What are my defenses against libel in this situation?
<p>I had a dream that an acquaintance of mine was engaged in the African slave trade in the United States (that is right now, in the early 21st century). Suppose I turned the dream into a piece of fiction such as a movie or novel, would that be libel because of the time disconnect?</p>

<p>My understanding is that libel has the following elements: 1) The statement was false while a reasonable person would believe it to be true, to the detriment of the target 2) the plaintiff was identifiable 3) the statement was derogatory.</p>

<p>There was a case about the libel charges of a beauty queen being dismissed because no reasonable person would believe the <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=11535081963631041995&amp;q=pring+penthouse&amp;hl=en&amp;as_sdt=20000000002" rel="nofollow noreferrer">allegations</a>: that the beauty queen performed oral sex on men and thus made them "levitate" in mid-air.</p>

<p>A couple more items about my dream/movie. 1) It showed a contemporary "slave market" in Washington D.C. next to the courthouse, side by side with cars, skyscrapers, and the internet, meaning that the person was not conducting a slave trade in our parallel universe that was illegal (immoral, perhaps) and 2) People who knew him would testify, yes, this is the kind of guy who would sell his mother, brother, child, "down the river." </p>

<p>Would either or both of the above constitute a defense against libel?</p>

<p>It would probably not be defamation unless it was obvious that it was somehow a very direct metaphor for a real situation. You must, at a minimum, be implying something about reality for something to be defamatory. This would be quite a stretch.</p>

<p>You might, however, be liable for commercial appropriation of someone's identity and owe them compensation in much the same way that you have to pay a model damages if you use model's picture for a commercial purpose. The appropriation need not be limited to the physical aspects of someone's appearance and might include also, for example, distinctive use of language or aspects of personal history and life.</p>

<p>Make all the characters fictional.</p>

<p>Based on what I understand today, there are three issues for a defamatory statement. 1) It was a false statement reasonably believed to be true. 2) The plaintiff is not clearly identifiable. 3) Whether or not it is defamatory. The defendant only has to prevail on one of these defenses to win.</p>

<p>Number 3 is clearly "out." The statement is defamatory. Number 2 is the usual line of defense. Disguise the plaintiff. But if it fails, fall back on number 1.</p>

<p>Of course, number 1 is a false statement. But no one in the 21st century U.S. would reasonably believe that someone was legally and openly engaged in a slave trade that was legal and open only up to the Civil War. This is a strong "signal of fiction." That's the ground on which the defendants in the Miss Wyoming case ultimately prevailed even after losing on the other two counts.</p>

united-states libel