Support for Indie Authors discussion

Hey there! :)

First, I just wanted to say I've been following this group for awhile and have finally gotten the courage to get back into writing as a hobby. I'm in the process of outlining my story but wanted to get some advice first. I'm basing the setting of my story around a fictionalized version of a well known amusement park. Since a lot of my story will take place there, I plan to describe some of the rides/attractions at the park. My worry is that if I someday choose to self-publish the novel that this could create a problem. What do you guys think? Could I be in trouble from a legal perspective if I did this? I don't want to devote time and energy to my novel only to find out I couldn't publish it.

If I was you I'd fictionalise the rides too. Give them your own names and when you describe them make sure they are not exactly like the real ones.

Hey! I just started following this group :)

Although I can't really offer very solid legal advice because I'm not an attorney and don't know any, I would say it's better to be safe in this case. I have seen many authors use and name real places in their novels, but more often than not, there is a disclaimer in the beggining somewhere. I would also assume that there would more likely be a problem if you named the park and something negative were to happen in the story (eg- fall off an unstable ride, food poisoning, etc.) That would be more motivation to make an issue of it. If you are not going to mention the names of rides or the name of the amusement park you're using, I don't see why it would be a problem. Hope this helps!

I agree with Jane.

As with others' recommendations, I agree with the opinion to fictionalize them.

While I don't know what your story will be about and the following example may not come up, but you don't want to find yourself in an awkward spot where someone from the park comes across it and you wrote something that could potentially paint their park/rides in a negative light. For example: "...and a bolt was loose and ten people died because the cart ran off the tracks."

Go ahead and have a haunted ride, just don't call it The Haunted Mansion, or Pirates of the Caribbean. Call the Park by another name. Have fun with it.

Thanks everyone for the awesome advice! I agree that changing the names is a good idea and probably the safest thing to do.

Anyone can sue anyone for any reason. They key is whether your work is sufficiently libelous and if the plaintiff can make a strong case that your work did damage that hurt them financially. Based on what you've said, my personal opinion is that this would be a hard case to prove. I would take precautions, however, and some of the suggestions about fictionalizing various parts of the book is probably a good idea.