Writing Memoirsâ€What You Need to Know to Avoid Being Sued

Writing Memoirs- What You Need to Know to Avoid Being Sued Writing Memoirs- What You Need to Know to Avoid Being Sued Everyone wants to avoid being sued. Litigation is expensive, time-consuming, and incredibly stressful. Most writers don’t have much to worry about. The odds that they’ll end up in a courtroom for something they wrote are fairly low. Our First Amendment right to free speech offers significant protection to write freely. One exception to this rule is the world of memoir.The reason the memoir genre is compelling is because it’s fascinating to read the dirty details of others’ lives. Memoir authors usually don’t write about rainbows and sunshine, they write about the salacious. Abuse, sex, addiction, and family drama- it’s the Sturm und Drang that people want to read about. This is the primary reason why memoirs open the door for lawsuits.There’s a fine balance when you’re writing your memoir. Of course, it’s your story, and as such, you want it to be told without barriers. Yet, you need to consider those you’re writin g about. They may not want to be part of your story. And, in some cases, if you violate the law, they may have the right to retaliate with a lawsuit.We can all agree that there are better things to spend your book royalties on than exorbitant legal fees. Read on for tips to avoid going from published author to professional despondent. (Note: Our first disclaimer- this article does not constitute professional legal advice. For real legal advice, consult your real live counsel, rather than looking things up on the Internet.)1. Case Study: Running with ScissorsSince we’re discussing legal issues, it seems fitting to start with a case study on the issues of memoir, defamation, and invasion of privacy.Critically acclaimed author Augusten Burroughs published the best-selling memoir, Running with Scissors in 2003. In his book, he recalled his time living with the fictional â€Å"Finches.† His book recounted abuse, drug use, dysfunctional family behavior, living in squalor, an d other unsavory details any family wouldn’t want blasted all over printed pages.Burroughs claimed that while he did change the name of the family (in real life, the Turcottes), the harrowing details of his time spent in their care were true. The Turcottes filed a defamation and invasion of privacy torts suit against Burroughs and his publisher. The family asserted that Burroughs fabricated facts and violated their privacy.Burroughs’ defense hinged on his assertion that the facts, as he wrote them, were true; therefore he had not broken any laws. The parties settled out of court. As part of the settlement, Burroughs changed his acknowledgments to say the Turcottes had â€Å"conflicting memories† of the described events. Burroughs was legally obligated to amend his book acknowledgments to read as follows:I would like to thank the real-life members of the family portrayed in this book for taking me into their home and accepting me as one of their own. I recognize that their memories of the events described in this book are different than my own. They are each fine, decent and hard-working people. The book was not intended to hurt the family. Both my publisher and I regret any unintentional harm resulting from the publishing and marketing of Running With Scissors.2. Understand the ConceptsThe best defense is a good offense. In litigation that means don’t do anything that will get you sued. Before you publish your memoir, it’s important that you understand your rights to free speech, as well as defamation and invasion of privacy issues.First Amendment ProtectionThe First Amendment protects your right to free speech. This protection applies to both the spoken and written word.DefamationIn short, defamation is when you ruin a person’s reputation. Blacks Law Dictionary defines defamation as, â€Å"The taking from one’s reputation. The offense of injuring a persons character, fame, or reputation by false and malicious statements.† The term covers both libel (written) and slander (spoken).Only living people can sue for defamation, so someone can’t file a lawsuit against you for defamation through an estate or relatives.Invasion of PrivacyInvasion of privacy lawsuits hinge on public disclosure of private facts. Private facts are sensitive information that the average person would not want to share with the general public; for example, medical records, adoption records, abuse, alcoholism, etc. Just as with defamation, an invasion of privacy suit can’t be brought by an estate or relatives. Even if what you write is 100% true, someone can still bring an invasion of privacy suit based on public disclosure of private facts.3. Preventing a Defamation Cause of ActionThe best defense against defamation is the truth. Suppose you write that your neighbor was convicted of axe murder. He can’t bring a defamation suit against you if he was, in fact, convicted of axe murder. But if you write, â€Å"my neighbor could be capable of axe murder because he’s crazy,† then you’ve got some defamation issues.Practical Tips to Stay Out of Courtroom:If your facts will not hold up as 100% true in a court of law, you can open yourself up to defamation. Before you write, make sure to check your facts. You want to know that if you’re writing about something controversial, that you’re not fabricating the truth.The second tip to avoid defaming your memoir characters is to frame controversial statements as your opinion. Opinions are (*usually) legally considered â€Å"protected expression.† That said, there are parameters. You can’t simply state that blatantly false statements are opinions and get away it. Writing, â€Å"In my opinion, Sara Smith is a prostitute†- when Sara Smith is an upstanding mom and doctor- will get you in trouble. Your opinion needs to be balanced by evidence and supported by actual fact.The third tip t o avoid defamation issues is to change anyidentifying information about your book characters. In order to prevail in a defamation case, the defamed must prove others are able to identify him from your writing. A caveat: This doesn’t mean by name alone! People can claim defamation if one could reasonably identify them through their actions, clothing, quotes, physical appearance, address, or any number of identifying points.The fourth tip is that defamation rests upon subjective principles. When in doubt, err on the side of caution about disclosing details that may or may not be true. If you can’t defend the truth in a court of law, don’t publish it.The final tip is to print a disclaimer in your preface, intro, or acknowledgements. Simply by stating your memories are imperfect but you’re sharing to the best of knowledge and that you’ve changed identifies can stave off legal woes.4. Avoiding an Invasion of Privacy Cause of ActionJust as with a defamat ion lawsuit, an invasion of privacy lawsuit turns on subjective opinions to be decided on a case-by-case basis. This means that the individual facts of each case will decide the outcome.Common sense dictates that there are certain private facts, which a person would not want shared with the public. If a good friend had given up a child for adoption, and you were the only person she told, then disclosing that in your memoir would open the doors to an invasion of privacy lawsuit. The same would apply to sensitive information such as private health matters, abuse, addiction, or any information would not be readily accessible to the public.Certain public or high profile individuals may have less protection against invasion of privacy. The legal theory is that because they have opened their lives to public scrutiny, then the bar is lower for privacy protection. If unsavory facts can be classified as public interest, then you may be able to disclose certain things about public individuals . The crux of this issue would turn on whether your facts are related to a matter of â€Å"public concern.†Practical Tips to Stay Out of the Courtroom:There are several ways to avoid invasion of privacy lawsuits. Our first tip is to get written permission from your characters. If you obtain written consent, they can’t later file a suit stating you’ve breached their privacy.Our second tip is the same as with defamation: Change all identifying characteristics. Give your characters a different name, different job, different wardrobes- anything you can change to prevent them from being recognized by your words affords you a degree of protection. Some writers like to create an amalgam of characters to mix up identifying facts.Our third tip is tell the truth. Dont lie (or even embellish). It’s unethical at best; at worst, it can get you in legal hot water.Our fourth tip is carefully weigh the impact of disclosing inflammatory, sensitive, or embarrassing informa tion. Are such disclosures essential to your story? If so, tread carefully and use our rules for how to proceed with caution. If you’re on the fence, it’s always wise to run your concerns by a lawyer to head off any issues before you publish. Paying for an hour or two of legal time is far better than being a defendant in a court case.The best memoirs are brazen, open, and honest about life, even when the facts are tough to write about. Your obligation as a memoirist is to tell your story and honor the truth. By considering the impact of those in your real life and making efforts to protect them, you’ll avoid legal troubles down the line.Like what you read and want to learn more? We’re holding a FREE online workshop where Chandler is revealing the exact tactics and strategies he used to write and publish 6 bestselling books in a row†¦ and use them to build a 7-figure business in less than 2 years.Click here to save your spot now!

Environmentally Sustainable Business Assignment Essay

Environmentally Sustainable Business Assignment - Essay Example This has however been achieved after several years of denial and intransigency as affiliate either disputed environmental concerns or claimed that there was very little that could be done other than grounding the sector to a halt (Tol and Yohe, 2006) Zadek (2004) alleges that most business corporations pass or evolve through five stages as they edge closer to social responsibility: defensive, compliance, administrative, premeditated, and social responsibility. This can be equated to organisations realising the importance of environment sustenance and conservation. In the first stage, the company adopts a defensive or denial attitude even in the face of overwhelming criticism thus remarking, ‘Its not our job to fix that.’ In the second stage is that of compliance when the firm aims at stemming mounting criticism and litigation but just doing the basic minimum hence dubbed, ‘Well do just as much as we have to.’ The third stage ‘It’s the business, stupid’ the managerial stage, the corporation recognize the long-standing difficulty of not complying thus allocates the management of the firm the task of ensuring compliance. In the fourth stage, ‘it gives us a competitive edge’, the corporation discerns just how important and beneficial sustainability compliance is to the firm and now actively pursues the stratagem. This eventually leads to a decision that ‘we need to make sure everybody does it’ as the idea of collective responsibility takes root. This may be part of the corpor ate strategy of the firm as they realise the effect of other stakeholders have on their operations in terms of ecological degradation (Zadek, 2004). The UK Aviation industry has made tremendous progress as envisioned in Zadek (2004) framework whereby through the progress report released in 2009, the industry seems to have come to the conclusion that environment protection and

Telecommunication in healthcare Speech or Presentation

Telecommunication in healthcare - Speech or Presentation Example Another area which has been evolving over the course of years and decades is the healthcare industry. Healthcare has constantly evolved with the times, from poor and dangerous practices to safer, more effective procedures. From the old days of blood letting and body humors, to CT scans and brain surgery, healthcare has come a long way, and continues to evolve in order to aid mankind in staying healthy, relieving pain, and generally living longer. The goal of this paper is to examine and assess the marriage of these two topics; telecommunications in the healthcare setting. It aims to discuss its current state, benefits and set backs, as well as to try and predict where it will be in the next 5 years. It aims to do so by laying the topic out as such: 1. What is telecommunication? 2. Telecommunication technology used in the hospital setting 3. Advantages and disadvantages of telecommunication in healthcare 4. Significance of telecommunication in the healthcare setting 5. Where will heal thcare telecommunications be in 5 years What is telecommunication? Telecommunication, according to dictionary.com, is â€Å"the transmission of information. . . usually over great distances, in the form of electronic signals..†. This gives us a guide as to how to look at the technology that will be discussed in this portion of the paper. There are many forms of this technology available in the market today. The basic form of this technology is of course the telephone. There are many types of telephones that use different types of connections in order to communicate such as the regular public switch telephone network, internet protocol or IP phones, and mobile carrier phones. This is most likely the first thing that would come to mind when thinking about telecommunication, however, this is but a small part of the technology. Other examples are chat and email. These on the other hand are text-related forms of telecommunication. These provide a great way to send out information quickly if incase there is no time to spend on the phone and if details are needed to be sent over that require visual support. You can also consider fax as a form of telecommunication as you are still sending over information electronically; it’s just turned into a hard copy once it is received. One other form of telecommunication, which people normally do not think of, is the public announcement system. It still fits into our description of sending over information electronically. The great thing about telecommunications is that it is flexible, it evolves in conjunction to our needs and it improves greatly over the course of a relatively short period of time. This means that it is effective in most settings and is able to provide multiple options for connectivity. Telecommunication technology used in the hospital setting The healthcare industry has slowly grown and evolved throughout time and so have the technologies that they used. As they made an effort to solve more prob lems, their need to communicate, share information and collaborate also grew and changed. Gone are the days of regular landline calls and pagers. The healthcare industry now uses great technology and equipment in order to have better communication, record keeping, and collaboration. Aside from the average technology such as IP phones, email, chat, fax and the PA system, the healthcare industry also has other tools up its sleeve. One of them is video conferencing. There is one kind that is specially

Exams Should Be Abolished Essay Example for Free

Exams Should Be Abolished Essay Exams a word that many students dread to hear, a word that many students fear of, a word that seems to have the magical power to transform a happy and cheerful person into a frustrated and nervous wreck. What are exams and should they been done away with entirely? Exams are longer and more comprehensive versions of tests held every term. Initially created to monitor and check how a student was performing academically, they now have so much more pressure on them that students are burning the midnight oil to study for an exam. This results in some students becoming ill due to stress and lack of sleep. They have become more and more stressful and, even worse, a constriction to the ideal of learning. It is a well known fact that when it comes to exams, students compete, not only with themselves, but with other students. They no longer want to see an increase in their knowledge, but want to beat other people to the top of the class. Even parents take exams as a race to see whose children are more intelligent. Read more: If There Were No Exams Students shouldnt be judged on their performance on one day when they might be ill. The exams might not be completely representative of the students skills as everyone can have a bad day. They are a poor method of assessment as they dont reflect the use of knowledge in a practical environment. They dont reflect how well youll be able to use your knowledge in real world occupations. Many successful individuals are bad at exams but can perform well under other methods of assessment such as essays and oral presentations which still prepare students in coping with pressure. Some people would argue that exams are not a fair assessment of intelligence and arent favourable to those with poor memory skills, those who suffer under pressure, and those who get so nervous in such situations that they shut down in exams. Its  very easy to know content but to completely fail an exam because you are nervous. They arent an accurate representation of a students knowledge as some people are just better at taking exams than others. If you happen to mess up in your exams due to stress or panic then your goals can disintegrate leaving you unable to reach your full potential and having to settle for second best.

Reader Response Essay - On The Strong Breed -- Reader Response Essays

Reader Response Essay - On The Strong Breed Reading Wole Soyinka’s Strong Breed, I get to wondering about disclosure and ritual, disclosure between characters and to audiences, rituals of drama and religion. As I read the play, I see ample signs that both Sunma and Eman know about the curse-binding ritual that is to take place before midnight. I see signs of Sunma’s more specific knowledge in her shunning of Ifada from the start of the play. She declares, â€Å"Get away, idiot† (853). From the start Sunma is agitated and hopes that she and Eman might get away for â€Å"only two days† (857), as long as the two of them might â€Å"watch the new year together--in some other place† (856). Once Eman decides he doesn’t want to go away, Sunma wants to avoid the festival completely, saying that she â€Å"must not go out until all this is over† (859). Certainly, my rereading contributes to the sense of the foreshadowing I find in Sunma’s declarations. I have read the play half a dozen times by now, and though I forget many details, I do remember the outcome well enough to seek signs of its co...

Traffic Signal

He was the one who had emancipated Springfield from the corrupted governmental also reduced the crime in Springfield by introducing new laws and revamping the judicious system. Mr. Duncan had made some important changes for Springfield which improved it ,so he was extremely crucial for the well being of the city. The police found the dead body on 1 8th October at 5 am. When Mr. Ducat's death had spread across the news, the S. P. D realized that no one in their department was good enough to take charge and solve the murder. So Blake Cross from the N. Y. P. D was called to solve the case.Blake had a great reputation of solving difficult cases, once he solved a case with just a parking ticket! This time he had a lot of pressure on him as he was investigating the case of the Mayor. When Blake started searching the crime scene he found an asthma inhaler,so he suspected it had the murderer's fingerprints ,then he send the asthma inhaler to the forensic department to see if there were any p rints. The lab found the prints of Ben Cohn,he was of the opposition party of Springfield. Ben also fit as a classic murder suspect as he was Mr. Duncan nemesis.He also threatened to kill him a month ago. When the police went to interrogate Ben ,they found that he had a perfect alibi. He said that he was at his friend Scotty James house. The police checked with Scotty and he confirmed that they both were at his house. But Blake still thought that Ben was the one who murdered him and know Blake knew that Scotty was lining about Ben not killing Mr. Duncan. Blake was suspicious so he scrutinized Scotty lifestyle,recent behavior,counterparts scrutinizing Scotty for 1 day he found something that was very weird.Scotty salary was 40000 dollars per onto,but Blake found out that Scotty had a secret account in which he had 100000 dollars put in this month. So Blake knew that Ben had pawed Scotty to keep his mouth shut about the murder and to make a fake alibi for him. This time Blake went to Scotty personally to make him accept that he lied about Ben. Blake did a very clever thing to make Scotty admit that he lied,he told him that he would send him to jail for the crimes he committed earlier and never got caught for etc unless he admitted that Ben murdered Mr. Duncan.

Explaining the Responsibilities of Human Resource Management - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 3 Words: 1008 Downloads: 1 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Management Essay Type Narrative essay Did you like this example? For any organization to gain competitive advantage it is necessary to manage human resource effectively, as traditional management models are inappropriate in our dynamic work environment. In any organization hiring, promotion, development and deployment are most important to be left to human resource alone. Organizations are finding themselves having to confront a variety of economic, technological, legal, and cultural changes with which they must cope effectively if they are to remain viable. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Explaining the Responsibilities of Human Resource Management" essay for you Create order The human capital of an organization consists of the people who work there and on whom the success of the business depends. Human capital represents the human factor in the organization; the combined intelligence, skills and expertise that gives the organization its distinctive character. The human elements of the organization are those that are capable of learning, changing, innovating and providing the creative thrust which if properly motivated can ensure the long-term survival of the organization. For any organization human capital is considered as the prime asset and for any business to survive it is important for the business to invest. Human resource management main aims is to ensure that the organization recruit the right personal for the right job and retain the skilled committed and well motivated workforce it needed. The Human Resource has to assess and satisfy future people need to enhance and develop the inherent capacities of their workers. Human Resource Planning Process HR planning process determines the numbers of workers required by any organization to achieve its strategic goal, objectives. The main objective of the planning process is to ensure that the organization hire the right skills person for the right job. The competitive organizational strategy of the firm as a whole becomes the basis for the HR planning, which is the process of analyzing and identifying the need for and availability of human resources so that the organization would be in a position to achieve its strategic objectives and goals. Link to business planning Human resource planning is an integral part of overall business planning. It identifies the core competences that an organization required to achieve its goals and therefore its skill and behavioral requirements. The main role of Human resource under business planning is to interprets these plans in terms of people requirements and draw attention to the ways in which people could be developed and deployed more effectively to further achievement of business goals as well as focusing on any problems that might have to be resolved in order to ensure that the people required will be available and will be capable of making the necessary contribution. Human Resource Planning Responsibilities In any organization the Human resource department has most of the responsibilities for the planning process. Although other departments also provides data to HR to analyze. The top level managers are responsible for overall planning, they usually ask the Human resource department to project the human resource needed to implement overall goals of the organization. Recruitment The main role of Human resource planning process is to analyze the demand for labor within the organization and take necessary steps to ensure that to fill the position with the right person for the right job. In large organization they keep a record of how many employees are going to be retired in future and develop the demand for the new staff. In this way they can easily find the labor market, local, international or national from where they can recruit employees. Effective recruiting can have a significant positive impact on the organization, while poorly designed and executed recruiting involves all of the various activities aimed at attracting candidates to the organization. There are two main issues involved in recruitment i.e. cost of te recruitment and the relative effectiveness of the sources. The most difficult issue is the quality of the recruited individual and measurement of its effectiveness as it based on long term measures that are sometimes unreliable. There are main four stages of recruitment and selection: Defining requirement Planning recruitment campaign Attracting candidates Selecting candidates 1 Defining requirements: The number and categories of people required may be set out in formal human resource or workforce plans from which are derived detailed recruitment plans. Requirements are expressed in the form of ad hoc demands for the new workers because the creation of new posts, expansion into new activities or area or the need for a replacement, in case of short-term demand can put the human resource department under pressure to provide the employee quickly. In an organization requirements for a job are set out in the form of job description and person specifications. These provide the required information to draft the advertisement. The assessments of the candidates are carried out by selection tests and interviews. 2 Recruitment planning The recruitment plan mainly covers The number and type of employees required to cater for expansion or new development. The likely source of candidates Plans for tapping alternative sources How to recruitment program will be carried out 3 Attracting Candidates Next step is to attract the candidates. For attracting the candidates is to analyse the strength and weaknesses of the recruitments. The result of this analysis can be helpful for the human resource management to develop the employee brand and value proposition. Selecting Candidates The last step is selection of the candidates. The aim of the selection is to assess the suitability of candidates by predicting the extent to which they will be able to carry out a role successfully. It involves deciding on the degree to which the characteristics of applicants in terms of their competencies, experience, qualification, education and training match the person specification. It also involves using this assessment to make a choice between candidates. Professional Training Development Training and development strategy approach is used by he organizations so that they can ensure that in the future they can achieve their goals by professional training development of their employees. Training and development activities help the organization to achieve its goals by developing required skills and capacities of their employees. It can be described similarly as strategic human resource development