And considering that many of L&O’s writers are attorneys, you’d think they’d know where the line is and how not to cross it.
Was Ed Gein wandering around in an empty wilderness?
The disclaimer applies to all the characters, not just the famous one.
But the disclaimer doesn’t just apply to Nixon, it applies to other characters. So if a lawyer character in that film advised Nixon to have Liddy killed and tried to hire a hit man to get it done, John Dean (RIP) might still get worked up at the idea that someone might infer that he was the hitman-hirer.
Doh! Ninja’d!
it might also allow for artistic license.
if it is inspired by recent events but not a historical documentary then you can make composite characters, fictional events and quotes that make good for a hour long (minus commercials) drama.
But now that MJ is dead, isn’t there a legal principle that states you can’t defame the dead? That is, you can basically say anything you want and you can’t be sued for libel because the dead aren’t around to feel any harm to their reputations?
John Dean is still alive, age 71 and living in Akron, acc. to Wiki.
Yeah, but it also doesn’t just apply to the non-famous ones. If they just said “some characters are fictional”, that’d be fine, but “all characters are fictional”, when one of your characters is Richard Nixon, pretty clearly implies that Richard Nixon is fictional.
Except in Tasmania, where there are circumstances under which dead people (or, more realistically, their Estate) can sue for defamation. I believe it’s more to do with the recently deceased, though- say a (obviously fictional) controversial local personage dies and someone does a radio broadcast saying “I’m glad they’re dead… Did you know they once set fire to an orphanage full of puppies, took bribes, and sold national secrets to unfriendly countries?”, then I’m pretty sure the deceased’s Estate can launch a defamation action.
Having said all that, I’m not a lawyer, this isn’t legal advice, etc, yada yada yada.
Todd McFarlane learned that the hard way.
I think that case is very different in that, as you linked, nobody who read that ad parody would really think that Falwell had sex with his mother in an outhouse. It was obviously a joke.
Now, if it said something like Falwell molested young girls in his office at Liberty University, then he would have had stronger grounds, no? Since that would be something that a reasonable person might believe as accurate?
I don’t remember, is that a famous scene from something?
I realize the disclaimer is for all the characters. But why would it say say “**All **characters portrayed are fictitious,” when **all **the characters are clearly **not **fictitious? I’ve seen other films say, “Some characters portrayed are fictitious,” or that “Although based on true events & people, some events & characters have been created,” etc.