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Topic : Re: Can I use a real person's name as a pseudonym? I don't want to use my own name when publishing my book - my pseudonym is the name of a German actress. Is it ok to use it? It's not a - selfpublishingguru.com

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I think she could sue you.

I'm not a lawyer, I don't know German, nor the specifics of German law, but I was able to find something in the page about "personal rights". In particular, the section on "self-expression" (Selbstdarstellung). Machine translation is below:

The right to self-expression ensures that individuals can determine how they present themselves in public. It therefore protects him from unwanted, falsified or defamatory representation by third parties.

[...] the right to self-expression results in the right to determine whether one's own name should be published or publicly mentioned

Individual areas of personal rights are particularly protected by law [...] the name ( § 12 BGB) [...]

A violation of general personality rights, in particular through media reports or in the case of abusive criticism , can result in a claim for damages (Section 823 (1) BGB in conjunction with general personality rights as an "other right") or an injunctive relief or right to correction (§ 1004 BGB).

I don't think it can even be allowed under "fair use".

On one hand, I can't see any economic damages stemming from this. And non-material damages can be compensated only in serious cases. So you'd most likely be hit with a cease and desist, or an injunction to stop the publication and distribution until change your name.

You might be able to argue a sort of "fair use", something along the lines of the Rogers v. Grimaldi case:

This appeal presents a conflict between Rogers' right to protect her celebrated name and the right of others to express themselves freely in their own artistic work.

And it was decided that:

"suppressing an artistically relevant though ambiguous[ly] title[d] film" on trademark grounds "would unduly restrict expression."

But would I recommend wagering on "fair use", so to speak? No. Litigation is unpredictable, and even worse, a waste of your time and money, and it will cost you nothing to avoid it now.

Furthermore, that case was about a film title being misleading, so it's more of a matter of false advertising: you thought you were going to see Fred Astaire, you got ripped off.

In your case, what is misleading is who is the author. Which is much more relevant, because it'd be a violation of that actress' right to self-expression. I know it's not your intent to impersonate her, that your target audience is not someone who would be familiar with her, but there's clearly an ambiguity.

I don't think you can even claim you were acting in good faith, and that your intent wasn't to mislead, because you're already aware that you're using someone else's given name (compare the "All persons fictitious" disclaimer).

My advice is to just use another pseudonym.

To be extra safe, look it up on Google, Facebook, sites to find information about people (Pipl, White Pages...), and see if anyone already has that name, or is using it as a pseudonym already. If it isn't, then you didn't use it knowingly.
Try to make a cryptic pun on your own name. Say, pick the meaning of your name, look up a name with a similar meaning in another language, and use that.
Use a name that is unambiguously a pseudonym, like ancient Latin names, a mononym, or puns like "A. Nonymous", or "I. C. Wiener".


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