Real Places & Actual Settings
Are There Legal Issues?

A man travels the world over in search of what he needs and returns home to find it.  —George Moore

I am writing a story that I would like to set in a specific city. The main area that most of the story takes place in is fictional. In the background of the area the story is set in, can I still use actual local business names or should those be changed in the story as well?

Is it bad form to fictionalize real places and actual settings? —Cheri

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From Stehanie
In my opinion, I prefer to use real places. If you think about it, how can you get sued over just using Los Angeles, CA for example. I'm pretty sure you can't (because I went on a worrying spree about copyright until I asked a friend who assured me that using names and places can't be sued over) unless for example, you want to use a real person in a major plot then you'd have to get permission but using something for description is okay. After all, it's what writing is all about

From Kathleen Bradean
This question comes up once a year or so, but it is worth repeating. The truth is - use it if you want, but be aware that the people who own the place might not take kindly to being mentioned by name, so your editors might want you to rename places even though locals will go "wait a second, that red and white awning, that snotty waitress, that cheeseburger and chopped liver special - she's talking about O'Hooligans!"

From Keziah Hill
Real places and settings are tricky. I'm writing a story set in a particular inner city suburb in Sydney which is well know for its gay, lesbian and queer scene. If I name it, Sydney readers will know immediately where I mean which is a disadvantage if I want to play around with landmarks. For example St Stephen's Church is a Newtown landmark but the look of the church doesn't suit my purposes (not OTT enough) so I'm going to call it St Michaels's. This means I'll have to change the name of the suburb as well because there's no St Michael's in Newtown. All very confusing when I'm trying to work out names and places.

From Lisabet Sarai
Many of my stories and novels are set in real places. I try hard for a particular "look and feel" (and smell and taste), because I believe that the setting contributes to the plot and especially helps define the characters.

If you are questioning whether to mention real businesses or not, ask yourself does it matter to the plot or the characters? If it's the atmosphere of a bar or restaurant that matters, and not the specific place, you're probably safer using a fictional name. After all, you won't get any benefit from the real name and run a slight risk of legal problems.

If there's really no substitute, use the real name. For example, in my new novel, set in Pittsburgh, there's a short scene set in the Old Oyster House, a historic bar in an old market area. It had to happen there - the historic aspect is part of the point.

As far as inserting locations that don't exist, I wouldn't worry about it. Most cities are far too complex for anyone to know all of their establishments. (A small town might be more of a problem.) As far as I know, there are no genuine S/M bars in Bangkok's Patpong area, but that didn't stop me from creating one in "Bangkok Noir". As long as a venue is plausible (and our recent other thread suggests that you can stretch this quite a bit!), don't worry about inventing it.

From Remittance Girl
City bylaws and the temper of the times change. Your only problem is if you get extremely successful, do a book tour in that city and have to face some quarrelsome person who says "Hey, they're ain't any topless strip clubs in *blah, blah, blah* district." And wouldn't you like to have a problem like that? Heh heh!

I always write real settings, although I will sometimes, for example, "hybridize" the worse qualities of a number of hotels and hatch a really hideous semi-fictional one.

I attribute this to the fact that life is often weirder than fiction and there's no way that I'm imaginative enough to dream up some of the settings I write about. Also, the closer you stick to the truth, the more it will ring like the truth to the reader, within the fiction context.

Finally, I think that settings often play a major role in a plot. They can often provide the environmental stresses that trigger conflict, or at least aggravate or exacerbate a brewing conflict.

To be honest, I don't write villains very well and I tend to avoid doing it. So the major conflicts in my stories usually emerge from the main character being caught in a vice between their own internal demons and a setting that brings them to the fore. Other characters usually act as either guides within the setting, or guides in the landscape of the main character's internal world.

From Brenna Lyons
I do it all the time, naming real places in my books, and so do many other authors I know. I've never had a problem. However, I have heard of one author who was sued for doing this by a Mom and Pop place. Your mileage may vary, I suppose.

From Scriblr
In the novel I am writing I do mention the State that the story takes place, and I also mention some of the "outside" cities and towns, but the closer I get to the town I am writing about I tend to "kind of" create it. I do use names and places that actually exist, but they are in different contexts, but the counties name is actually the name of a mountain that I can see from my front deck. 

I guess since I am writing about a small town I felt that I needed to be kind of obscure about certain things...especially since some of the characters are somewhat recognizable, to a certain extent. I have kind of done a Frankenstein thing with some of my characters...taking bits and pieces from people I know and putting them into a character. I guess I felt that I wanted to avoid the thing where a friend or acquaintance walks up to me and says..."Say that character in your book...were you writing about me?" Well maybe yes...maybe no.

From Jeya M. Jenson
I pick a real city on the map and then give it a fake name, then use real neighboring towns, etc.... to describe things, so it will feel more realistic.

From W. S. Cross
If I were to write a story or novel set in South Philadelphia and mentioned Pat's Steaks, no one would squawk. Pat's is famous. If I were to mention Pinto's Bar, the owner might be upset if I mentioned him or his patrons. If action takes place inside a real locale, it might be better to fictionalize it (Palomino's Bar). If my character is walking down the street and another character emerges from Pinto's Bar, I don't think any feathers would be ruffled.

From Stevie Burns
Anyone who lives in that town will know that what you are describing would soon be shut down if discovered by the government/law. If you write that in as part of your story, no problem. But you need to be sure that you don't overlook that fact in the story, or you will loosen your grasp on 'suspending disbelief'.

If you describe a real club, call it by name, and describe it as doing something that is against the law in its neighbourhood, do not write about what they are doing unless your intention is to blow the whistle on them.

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