Today, I received an email from someone who happens to have a name I've mentioned in one of my fics. He asked my why I had used *his* name (which I didn't. It was just coincidentally the same, though not exactly a common name) and asked me to remove it. Has anyone else experienced this or anything similiar?

Just wondering, 'cause I'm still kind of thunderstruck.

Wow! Fortunately not. But obviously "he" reads fanfic, huh?

That is too weird. And a name that's not a common one. Tell him to not be so vein and think that the story is about him...

~Sheila

A couple of times I've had people email me with the same subject -- that she had a name I used in one of my stories, and (since both times it wasn't a common name at all) wanting to know where I got it. One time I got it randomly from a phone book and the other time I made it up, so that was what I told them. No one ever asked me to change it.

Normally, no one has a copyright on their name, except corporations and businesses, so legally you are fine. If you want to change it just to be nice, that's okay, but you are under no obligation to do so.

Nan

I've never had it happen, but I suppose it's not surprising. The archive is in Google's database, with a number of links to it. So if you Google yourself and have an unusual name, it's not unlikely that a fic containing it would turn up.

Adding to Paul's comment about Google...

There are companies now that will do a Google search on prospective employees' names. I haven't actually experienced it, but I have heard of people getting in trouble because of entries in their blogs/myspace/facebook etc (either stuff they've said, stuff said about them, pictures in...not so professional positions).

I personally think that, in the horror stories I've heard, the employers are at fault in not using discernment with the results they found, because they've refused to hire people for really stupid reasons.

The only reason I'm bringing this up is that it's possible (how probable, I have no idea) that this person is worried about what the inclusion of their name in fanfic could say to employers -- in that the employer might think it's a cameo/shoutout or something like that. (Again, if an employer had a problem with it, I'd say the employer is stupid, but hey, it's their prerogative.)

I'm not saying you need to change the name, especially if the request was rude (as it sounds). I'm just trying to offer a potential reason for his request.

And if I'm rambling and making no sense, let's just blame it on my sunburn. O:-)

Bethy

In one of the early making of star trek books it includes a set of notes about the source of character names as the problem arises all the time in TV. They had used headstones in some graveyards as a source of names.

I think that if the person has a potential employer that wants to know why "the person's name" appears in your fanfic, I would think that the employer could contact you. Unless the person with the same name can prove that their name is copyrighted, I don't there is a thing they can do a thing about it.

Thanks for your replies. Well I already asked Labrat to change it to a name that is at least common in Germany and since many people living in the US have German ancestors I think this should be okay now. Fortunately I found a way to keep the pun.