: Re: Do I need permission from people I am writing about if I am writing about a true story that was reported in the media? I am writing a factual book, that will [hopefully] primarily detail

@Harper186

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This has nothing to do with the law, but my own personal ethics. Understand that the two are in no way correlated, given that the law is often an arbitrary beast.

There is a saying--often attributed to Admiral Grace Hopper--that it is often better to ask forgiveness than permission. I don't believe in asking permission to do anything creative or productive (as opposed to destructive).

That said, I do find it better to inform people of what I am doing. It fills their need to have been asked permission (at least notionally), while maintaining my sovereignty. It gives them a chance to voice their displeasure, and I get to take that into account in my decision to proceed.

I have found people are usually much more receptive than I think they will be. People only tend to block things as a knee jerk reaction. Approaching them before hand prevents reactionary responses to last minute revelations.

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