I need to vent. Forgive me for whining and complaining.
For years I've been exchanging emails and critiques with another writer. Recently he sent me his current novel-in-progress. He forewarned me, that I was a character in this novel. Of course there was the obvious concerns. I was almost afraid of his portrayal of me. At first I thought the whole thing humorous. But now it's really grating me. At first I was flattered that he mentioned my work. He quoted actual lines from some of my stories--some have been published, some not. He claims fair use allows him to quote works as long as it's only a few lines. I'm not going to quibble. But the thing that really grates me is that he transcribed emails I sent him word for word. They were personal things. I've joked with him that I won't write him any more emails for fear that they'll end up in another one of his stories.
But now I'm steamed. I would never take a letter, email or a post from anyone and write it into a story. I would ask to use an idea, but I would never include the actual words.
If you've read this far, thank you for letting me vent.

Marie

I don't like the sound of that! I think he has to get permission from you, in writing (i've not been published, but surely there's a rule!). Seems a bit presumptious.

Wow, I don't blame you for being steamed! I would be too. Something similar happened to me, (not with a friend, at a web site) but once I told them how I felt, I got an apology and they promptly removed it.
It's scary to think that e-mails are not considered private. Makes you really have to think before putting anything into writing to anyone!

I just ducked in before heading to the dentist, and caught this post. When I was writing my book, I wanted to mention a lot of people, but had to personally contact each one and get written permission before being allowed to use their name in my book. Anyone who didn't return the form either didn't get mentioned, or I had to change the name to a fictional one.

And that's with a self-published book. As I understand it, a writer has to have written permission to use someone's name in their book. Most publishers will (or are supposed to) refuse to publish it without proof of that permission.

Maybe you could research the laws for that in your state and then send him that documentation, because as far as I understand, he will be liable for a lawsuit if he goes ahead and uses your name and identifiable information without consent.

But I'm still very much a newbie at this...others here will be much more knowledgeable about this than I am. But check it out and make sure he knows that you're willing to take legal steps to fix this...do quibble!

I'm with you Eagle Heart - I used some "real" people's names in my book and got written permission from each of them (which they readily gave because they thought it was pretty neat that I used them in that way).....on the other hand, if I'd wanted to use written material of ANY kind that belonged to someone else, or parts of material I'd shared (i.e., email exchanges) with another person I would NEVER consider doing it without their written permission PERIOD.

I'd be steamed too. Definitely.

[ April 07, 2005, 06:46 PM: Message edited by: Pam Kimmell ]

Thanks for all your posts. At first I was wondering if I was being petty. I do want to clarify something. In the book, he did change the name of the character who is supposed to be me. But the rest of it is mine. I appreciate the advice and support you've given me. I will check into copyright laws and such. I feel like asking him for the name of his agent, so I can write the agent a nice little letter about the author not obtaining permission. But I have a feeling that's going over the line.
I'm trying not to be so steamed. Thanks everyone for being there.
Hugs,
Marie

Katrinka,
Funny you should mention thinking about contacting his agent, because that's exactly what I would be tempted to do in that situation. I would think that his agent/publisher should be - and would want to be - made aware that the author has used your likeness/emails without permission. It may or may not change anything, but even if the material is/was innocent and harmless, I'd stll do everything I could to protect my privacy and myself from any negative impact that publishing this material could have later on down the road. I definitely don't think that's going over the line or unwarranted.

What do others think?

Marie,
It is very upsetting when someone uses your creative expressions without your permission. For a year and a half I published an e-newsletter titled Metaphysical Minute. Despite all the notations against copyright infringement that were stated at the bottom of the newsletter, I still found my articles showing up around the Internet. I even found one of my poems included in a newsletter put out by NASA for their employees! She did include my name as the author, however.

I did pursue several of them and requested that my name and company be listed (which they did), but I finally decided that in this age of technology, it is almost impossible to control everything you do unless you just stop communicating with anybody.

So unless someone actually takes credit for my creative expressions, I decided not to get upset about it. In your case, if you feel the email content falls under your creative expression, I would write a letter to him, notifying him that you are aware that he has quoted your stories without your written permission, claiming fair use, but that publishing private mail and passing it off as his own does not fall under "fair use" and unless he removes these elements prior to publication, you will be forced to pursue legal means. If you have a friend that is a lawyer, you might add a carbon copy notation at the bottom of the letter to that lawyer to convince him you're serious.

Also, I thought fair use was defined as quoting another's work as long as it was integral to the story line and credited to the original author.??? Did he do that when he quoted your stories?

Eagle Heart,
Thanks for your post. I am also interested in what others think about this. I do appreciate your response.

Marie

Dannye,
I'm sorry you had that experience. It is impossible to control what is published or stolen on the internet. I'd be steamed if that had happened to me.
I have told this author and so-called friend how upset I am about this. It doesn't seem to faze him. I've stopped writing him, and I definitely won't send him any more of my work to read. To answer your last question, no, it was not integral to the story line and it was not credited to me. He had a fictional character (loosely based on me) claim to be the author. Thanks for the insight!

Marie