: Re: Making modern references I'm working on a modern fiction drama in an urban setting. I'm trying to be real in terms of conversation threads--music, movies, drugs, etc. Here's my problem: I've

@Kristi637

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As others have mentioned, the more current a reference, the quicker it goes stale. But that isn't necessarily a reason not to do it. Plato's work is crammed with pop-culture references, and people still read him 2000 years later.

I'm not a lawyer, but I see no reason you would get in trouble via pop culture references unless you're libeling someone, using someone else's character in your work, or quoting a significant portion of someone's else's writing (i.e more than one quick phrase).

In general, lawyers follow the money. In practice, you most likely wouldn't get sued unless you wrote a best-seller or if you were referencing a property that gets misappropriated so often that it's worth having someone on retainer to seek out unauthorized usages.

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