Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Money matters

Find financial and money-saving discussions including debt and pension chat on our Money forum. If you're looking for ways to make your money to go further, sign up to our Moneysaver emails here.

Original poster

could i get sued if...

34 replies

juicychops · 08/04/2009 17:43

i wrote a book about past events in my life and bad things that my ex put through, and used his real name? there was never enough evidence for him to be taken to court so he was never found guilty, so could he sue me if i wrote about all the things he did?

OP posts:
TrinityWino · 08/04/2009 17:45

I think you could for defamation (sp?) of character but I'm not sure

but its a bump

mynameis · 08/04/2009 17:46

Why can't you change his name to something that is obviously him but not his excat name iyswim

mynameis · 08/04/2009 17:47

exact not excat -doh

Scootergrrrl · 08/04/2009 17:50

If he's identifiable, which he would be if you used his real name (!), then he could sue you for libel if anything you write exposes him to hatred, ridicule or contempt or lowers him in the estimation of right-thinking members of society - sorry for the jargon but it's the technical definition.
An absolute defence to libel is truth, but you would have to be able to prove that what you wrote is true. AFAIK, it's not up to him to prove what you said was untrue, but up to you to prove it IS true.
And even if you change his name, if other details make him easily identifiable - place of work, family details etc, you could still be at risk of being sued for libel.
Hope that makes sense.

Original poster
juicychops · 08/04/2009 17:51

could i do that then? change his name to something clearly making it obvious that its him and not have to worry about being sued?

OP posts:
Original poster
juicychops · 08/04/2009 17:57

thanks scooterg that helps. although i dont think i have to do much to 'lower him in the estimation of right-thinking members of society' as he has done that all by himself!!

well i have no proof that it is true as he was never taken to court over it so it is just my word against his.

so i would have to change his name, all people involved's names, important places too. what about mine or my ds's name?

would i have to write it as a novel then rather than a true account? if i use my real name and ds's name does that 'out him' and show its him im talkin about, or can i use the argument to say that this person that im writing about could mean anyone in the world?

OP posts:
HecAteTheEasterBunny · 08/04/2009 17:59

No. If it's clear that it's him, you could still get sued. Your only defence would be that what you were saying was the truth and you would have to be able to prove it.

You can write it so that it would be obvious to HIM that it was him, but if you wrote it so that anyone who knew him would be able to identify him - you'd best be able to prove it. Do you have evidence?

HecAteTheEasterBunny · 08/04/2009 18:01

If you use your real name and your son's real name and you are talking about your ex, then it wouldn't take a genius to work it out, would it?

What matters to you? Why do you want to write it? Why is it so important that he is recognised? Do you want to write your story (which you could easily do anonymously) or do you want the world to know what he did? (which could land you in trouble if you can't prove it)

hotcrosspurepurple · 08/04/2009 18:03

OP put yourself in his shoes
would you like it if he wrote a book about you, accusing you of things that hadn't been proved, but that he believes to be true?
would you let him do that?

GorgonsGin · 08/04/2009 18:04

answer is "yes you could" and Scooter has got it right.

If he sued for libel, he'd have to do it within 12 months of the libel, so the date of publication of your book.

On a practical level, how likely is it that he'd sue anyway? Very slim chance I'd say (not that I am recommending that you name him and risk it! save yourself the hassle and do it on pseudonyms and amended details). Legal aid isn't generally available if he sued for libel so: (a) he'd have to be very rich/have very deep pockets to be able to sue you (or get one of those "no win, no fee" lawyers and (b) you'd have to be wealthy to make it worth him suing, if it's money he's after. If it is about "clearing his good name" then unless your book is a roaring success, like part of the Richard and Judy book club, then how likely is it that he would.

GorgonsGin · 08/04/2009 18:05

"yes he could sue" must preview posts

Original poster
juicychops · 08/04/2009 18:14

if he wrote a book about me, there would be nothing that he could say that i did to him as i did nothing to him so it would be all lies.
everything i wrote in my book would be the truth and nothing but. there is so much he did to me and put me through that i wouldn't have to make anything up. but yes, i would have a tough time proving the really bad stuff as hospital reports i never told the truth to protect him, and other stuff there wasn't enough evidence to prosecute. although HE knows its all true, and other people know parts to be true, especially the parts that involved other people.

im not doing it to make a great successful book and make loads of money as that is very unlikely! (although bonus if it did). really its for me as a kind of therapy and also for certain people to see my side and the truth about things that went on and to make people see him for the animal he really is.
what if then i wrote it as a novel and changed everyone's names and all places etc, but said in the title 'based on true events'. could that get me in trouble?

OP posts:
Scootergrrrl · 08/04/2009 18:15

Could you write under a pseudonym?

Original poster
juicychops · 08/04/2009 18:25

what does that mean ??

OP posts:
Original poster
juicychops · 08/04/2009 18:26

i looked in my dictionary!!

could i just pick any name then?

OP posts:
Scootergrrrl · 08/04/2009 18:28

If what you write can't be linked to either of you, then he wouldn't be identifiable and therefore couldn't sue you. A lot of the books written on subjects like this, and child abuse, are under false names so they can't be sued.

Original poster
juicychops · 08/04/2009 18:33

ok i think il have to do that then.

ok, last thing....

so what if i wrote my book, and its only obvious to me who its based on, hypathetically, what if i then presented the book to his family and said 'read this, its about someone you know', or they find out some way that its based on him, could they still sue even though there is no clear implication actually in the book that its him?

OP posts:
HecAteTheEasterBunny · 08/04/2009 19:05

in your mind, what will be the outcome of them knowing? They will realise it is him and.....

thisisyesterday · 08/04/2009 19:24

hmm can you be sued if it isn't published?

if you're writing it as a sort of therapy for yourself it need never actually be published (which, ftr, is fairly difficult to achieve anyway)
it doesn't have to be all over the shelves in major bookstores does it?
you might find it very therapeutic just writing it on your pc and not even showing it to anyone at all. just knowing yuo've got it out and that it's there

subtlemouse · 08/04/2009 19:33

'Publication' just means sharing the information with a third party - it doesn't have to be 'published' in a book/newspaper/website. So sending it to his family would be publication.

thisisyesterday · 08/04/2009 19:37

ahh ok

GorgonsGin · 09/04/2009 12:06

I'm still a bit mystified about your motivation for wanting to publish a book detailing your ExP horrible deeds.

Original poster
juicychops · 10/04/2009 15:35

revenge

OP posts:
GorgonsGin · 11/04/2009 13:22

isn't there, how do I put this, a less labour instensive way than writing a whole book about him?

GorgonsGin · 11/04/2009 13:24

sorry, just re=read that. I made that sound like I was advocating murder or something what I meant was - seems like a lot of trouble and could land you in touble for defamation.

Swipe left for the next trending thread