: Re: Should I be concerned with my fiction writing containing accidental prophecies of real world events? I'm writing a book (only a hobby, but I hope I can publish it one day). I've started writing

@Pope4766717

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The only real "dangers" here are those of someone thinking your book somehow caused the event in question or constituting libel regarding someone involved in the real events portrayed negatively (especially as being in some way responsible for said events) in your book. That sort of lawsuit is fairly rare, but most publishers nowadays seem to protect against it with a line like:

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

because one time a lawsuit like this happened and was pretty successful. The major cases with this have been film (Rasputin and the Empress, Citizen Kane) rather than novelization, but I see this boilerplate in novels plenty often nonetheless. Beyond including such a statement, I don't think you have anything to worry about (and as Mr. Baker says, much to gain).

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