Hi I am not sure how I stand using Professor Christian Barnard as a character. I have changed his name but made it obvious as the name is so close. He does t he job he did in real life but is it ok to use his name or do I need permission? Many thanks in advance as I know I will get the correct advice.
Regards Paul G
Thanks to both of you, I should have mentioned who the person is... Professor Christian Barnard. The protagonist, a thirteen year old boy named Tom Wells, is crushed by a double decker bus in 1957, way before heart resuscitation has been developed. Tom dies right at the end of his operation and has an out of body experience, well he's dead so he would! During this episode, Tom is confronted by an extra dimensional being who tells Tom it is because of his unique connectivity that they can communicate and he is needed by the E.Ds as a person in this dimension. Therefore, he uses Tom to impart the information needed to re-start his heart. Tom in his out of body form is able to speak to Barnard as a "ghost" a voice in his ear the voice of inspiration!!! so he is doing what he is known for, only years before he did his stuff! so after what you have said I think I am safe. If anyone fancies a look at the M S let me know and I will give you a link to my dropbox where I keep it and share it. I seem to have used a lot of words to say a little, nothing new there then. Again thanks for your responses. Paul G
Hi Paul,
That sounds very interesting! Are you going to self-publish this book? And I think you're safe, but then I'm no legal expert, however there are so many examples in literature. Another book I read had Tesla as a main character (The Kingdom Of Ohio) but was completely fiction (a good read, by the way). I do wonder about using people who are currently in the public eye, I don't know whether a different set of rules would apply to them.
But good luck with the edit, let us know how it goes :-)
oops relay the info... PG