: Is this character too similar to a real person? I’m writing this fictional story and based a character off this guy I saw in a documentary. He isn’t well known at all (other than being

@Welton431

Posted in: #Characters

I’m writing this fictional story and based a character off this guy I saw in a documentary. He isn’t well known at all (other than being in the documentary). I did not use his name. His appearance is the most similar. I actually looked at a picture of the guy while describing his face. The personality doesn’t match at all as far as I know. His career is the same but at a different place. For example lets say he’s a chef (which he isn’t). It would be the difference between cooking at a fast food place and being someone’s personal chef.

There isn’t anything defamatory about the character. The only risky thing I did is make him gay. This idea came to me because all the prime time shows I watch were suspended for the pandemic and I was craving drama. My weird brain started to ship this guy with another guy in the documentary series. The second guy is only similar in appearance. Is it too similar? I don’t want to get sued.

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@Si5022468

@Si5022468

I think you're worrying a little too much about this. If their faces are the only things that are similar, then you're perfectly fine. Plenty of comic book characters have been modelled after real-world people without any legal issues - famously, Nick Fury was modelled after Samuel L Jackson several years before Jackson started playing him in the films.

I'd expect that, if the man from the documentary ever read your book, he might notice the physical similarity, but he would never guess that the character was actually inspired by him, and he would have no legal basis to sue you even if he did. The characters seem different enough that there's no chance of confusing one with the other.

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