What’s the point of the “this novel is entirely a work of fiction….” disclaimer?

Submitted by huphelmeyer t3_10oerh5 in books

The full disclaimer reads;

“This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.”

I see it even on historical fiction. For example, the main character of this book is Genghis Khan

https://imgur.com/a/oXZO4Zk

So the disclaimer is simply a lie in this case. And let’s say you actually did write a more modern story based on a real living person. Would slapping this disclaimer on the first page offer any real legal protection?

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serralinda73 t1_j6e687x wrote

It depends. If the real person can prove that you included private, secret, personal information that you should not be airing to the public and you are only "disguising" it under the umbrella as fiction, then you are breaching their rights to privacy, you may be slandering (libeling?) I forget which is which) them.

Usually, when fiction includes a real person and facts about their life, the author has to include sources, either as a general bibliography or also with footnotes. If you're just making stuff up and happen to get it right...that's accidental and not your problem, as long as you can show that you had no prior knowledge about the facts/truth.

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st-julien t1_j6e83y4 wrote

Slander is spoken.

Libel is written.

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ohboop t1_j6eal8j wrote

Something that helped me remember it even more (as in, in addition to your more helpful hint, lol) was making the connection to romance languages: livre, or libros for book in French or Spanish.

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st-julien t1_j6eba7b wrote

Maybe that's why I remember it easily. Spanish is my native language, not English.

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ohboop t1_j6ej7t4 wrote

I bet it helps at least! It wasn't until a native French speaker pointed that out to me that I was finally able to remember once and for all.

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st-julien t1_j6eobny wrote

Also, I worked for a newspaper a long time ago. You have to be very familiar with the concept of libel if you work at a major daily.

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ohboop t1_j6ep7v6 wrote

Well now I just feel like you've buried the lede here.

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st-julien t1_j6esvg8 wrote

I was going to open with that but your mention of Spanish gave me a hook. :D

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Jack-Campin t1_j6g0mrs wrote

Depends on your local legal system. Doesn't work like that in Scotland.

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AtraMikaDelia t1_j6e8yt4 wrote

Here is an article I found about them, since I didn't want to just speculate.

According to it:

>Legal disclaimers are like chicken soup when you have a cold. They can’t hurt and might help. While they are unlikely to stop a lawsuit, they may put an obstacle in the way.

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lucia-pacciola t1_j6eu0yn wrote

In addition to what else is being said, I think this is like those safety stickers on ladders. It's there because a jackass got away with jackassery one time, so now everyone covers that one scenario preemptively.

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My_Name_is_Galaxy t1_j6fwbtr wrote

Like the “Do not use while sleeping” tag on the hair dryer I had as a teen.

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Cominginbladey t1_j6ejcwz wrote

A lawyer is probably responsible. It's the principal of CYA. When in doubt, it never hurts to cover your ass.

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ohboop t1_j6eaylv wrote

I find that most of my favorite media has a sprinkle of reality in it; I think it's common for authors to "borrow" major character traits from people they know, but they aren't necessarily trying to comment on that person at all. I can't confirm this, but something in the ether really makes me feel like it's true.

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markireland t1_j6eeves wrote

Truman Capote got into trouble when famous people claimed he based his characters on them

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GuruBuckaroo t1_j6fermg wrote

To answer your last question first, most boilerplate of this has been updated to include something along the lines of "entirely coincidental or used in a fictitious manner" to indicate that yeah, there may be some reality slipping through, but it's not implying this is really something they would do. It's all basically butt-covering to keep someone from suing for defamation, because you're clearly saying that this isn't what they would/have actually done.

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GrudaAplam t1_j6f1qa5 wrote

No novel is ever entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are always, however remotely, based on something or someone. Therefore it is imperative to claim that any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

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SoundbudsSlimCognito t1_j6fjy65 wrote

It can serve multiple purposes, though legally is it's most predominant. If by chance anything referenced has bearing on a real life thing, one can perceive the work as factual or at least an unflattering commentary/slander against that thing, resulting in legal prosecution. In this instance it serves the same purpose of putting "Caution Beverage Hot" on a coffee cup.

Another use case I can see is in cases of historical fiction, in which while the events are indeed based around historical facts, there is allot of author liberty taken in telling the story, and to dispel the idea it is indeed 100% fact, a clarification is given.

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ahkna t1_j6g99p5 wrote

It's a legal disclaimer there for legal reasons.

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