: Re: Using the real world in writing To what extent can you use locations, businesses, etc. from the real world in fiction? I know someone cannot copyright a city, but what about a particular location

Use of trademarked names in fiction does not violate intellectual property laws. There are a couple of things to be wary of nonetheless.

Be careful with the light in which you depict real businesses. As explained here, if you have a character die from a bad hamburger at Burger King or hurt himself because of a defective pair of Reeboks, then prepare for a libel suit.

Similarly, as discussed here, don't turn a trademarked brand name into a verb or a non-proper noun (which lawyers call trademark dilution). In other words, don't have characters "hoovering the living room," "drinking a coke," or "googling their names." Instead, make sure they're "vacuuming the living room with Hoover's wonderful appliance," "enjoying a Coca-Cola," or "performing a search on their names using that awesome Google." Or better yet, stick to vacuum cleaner, soft drink, and search engine. :)

As long as the portrayal is innocuous, and brand names are capitalized and not "genericized," there is no harm and no need for any kind of acknowledgment.

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: It's hard to opine on this without some examples of the sentences you wrote. But generally, you shouldn't write complex sentences just because you can do it well. When a particular idea really

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: How do I find a suitable copywriter? I am in the process of creating a web application. I will need some copy written for various pages in the site and some of the marketing marketing material.

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: If in real life the antagonist is often oneself, shouldn't it work in a full length novel? I'm fleshing out a novel which seems to have enough going on without adding an antagonist. In reality,

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: Why shouldn't I use a pen name? I don't like my name. I feel like seeing my name on the cover of my novel will be an embarassment more than a moment of pride - I just can't take things

: Re: Using the real world in writing To what extent can you use locations, businesses, etc. from the real world in fiction? I know someone cannot copyright a city, but what about a particular location

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: It's hard to opine on this without some examples of the sentences you wrote. But generally, you shouldn't write complex sentences just because you can do it well. When a particular idea really

: How do I find a suitable copywriter? I am in the process of creating a web application. I will need some copy written for various pages in the site and some of the marketing marketing material.

: If in real life the antagonist is often oneself, shouldn't it work in a full length novel? I'm fleshing out a novel which seems to have enough going on without adding an antagonist. In reality,

: Why shouldn't I use a pen name? I don't like my name. I feel like seeing my name on the cover of my novel will be an embarassment more than a moment of pride - I just can't take things

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