Do I need permission?

[Fallenandcantgetup]

Do you have to have permission to use a school's name or product name in an autobiography and/or book?

I'm in the process of writing an autobiography and a book, but I don't want to get in trouble for using them when I'm trying to get it published.

[_sunsets64.]

i'm not sure, you should try googling it, but you might want to just change it, even slightly, so that you don't have to worry about liability issues. i remember that was a problem at my school, although the administrators had an issue, not like a legal one. My english teacher thought it was ridiculous though, because it was fiction and a satire, and told them that the kid wasn't actually writing about our school, he was writing about an exaggerated, fictionalized school that happened to be loosely based off our school, if that makes sense.
as for product names, i don't know because i've seen multiple products show up in books that i've read, it's always the TV shows where names are changed -- like apple phones to pear phones, etc., but in books, it always stays the same. you should probably still google it though, just to be safe.
hope this helps, and good luck with your book! i'd love to read it when it's published

[Fallenandcantgetup]

Originally Posted by _sunsets64.

i'm not sure, you should try googling it, but you might want to just change it, even slightly, so that you don't have to worry about liability issues. i remember that was a problem at my school, although the administrators had an issue, not like a legal one. My english teacher thought it was ridiculous though, because it was fiction and a satire, and told them that the kid wasn't actually writing about our school, he was writing about an exaggerated, fictionalized school that happened to be loosely based off our school, if that makes sense.
as for product names, i don't know because i've seen multiple products show up in books that i've read, it's always the TV shows where names are changed -- like apple phones to pear phones, etc., but in books, it always stays the same. you should probably still google it though, just to be safe.
hope this helps, and good luck with your book! i'd love to read it when it's published

School name would be used in my autobiography, so I can't change it without making it a fiction book.

[_sunsets64.]

i just looked this up, and it looks like you probably do need to get permission first for the school:

http://www.linkedin.com/answers/mark...13310-55098234

but not for the products:
http://www.rightsofwriters.com/2010/...cts-in-my.html

[Total Light Storm]

I think that if you change the name of the school you should be okay even though you are writing an autobiography. Maybe somewhere you could have a paragraph about how the names of places are being changed to protect copyright and the identy of those there.
Like I said, I am not one hundred percent sure on this, but I've seen things like that in books that are nonfiction before. So, it could be something for you to try out.

[_sunsets64.]

Originally Posted by Total Light Storm

I think that if you change the name of the school you should be okay even though you are writing an autobiography. Maybe somewhere you could have a paragraph about how the names of places are being changed to protect copyright and the identy of those there.
Like I said, I am not one hundred percent sure on this, but I've seen things like that in books that are nonfiction before. So, it could be something for you to try out.

^^that's a really good suggestion

[Dedalus]

you don't have to worry about copyright until its published. if you get a contract it would be the part of your literary agent or editor to advise changes to avoid copyright issues. don't worry about it before publication