Referencing Real People

I recently completed a lyrics for a song that expresses a conversation between a mother and daughter. It could be any mother and daughter.

In reality I was writing about an imagined conversation that a famous dead person might have had with her mother. I read several online biographies, as well as a biography from the library. The song doesn't mention real events from this person's life. The vibe of the song is accurate to the personalities, based on my reading. Generations of mothers and daughters have had this conversation in one form or another.

My question is ... can I use the person's name in the song? It's instantly recognizable. At the moment, I'm using a generic "Jenny" as a placeholder until I find out if it is appropriate (or even legal). Is it appropriate to contact the person's estate to see if permission is required? Or, should I continue to use the generic "Jenny" and clue in the fans about the inspiration for the song? Or see if people figure it out for themselves?

I know that Rosa Parks sued OutKast for using her name in a song, but I think the overall problem was that they were using her name in a way that was incongruous with Parks' legacy.

If it's just the first name, even if it's instantly recognizable, is just a first name, and no one has a right to it.

There are tons of songs that are clearly about famous people, and I don't think there are grounds for a lawsuit. I think that Tommy Tutone even got away with putting Jenny's (different Jenny) phone number in the chorus.

I'd be happy to be sued by somebody over a song--that would indicate a song I had written was generating revenue sufficient to warrant a lawsuit.

Timothy Leary's Dead

Brian Wilson

Bob Wills is still the king

Bela Lugosi's Dead

Just to name a few.

Lynyrd Skynyrd openly bashing Neil Young, by name, In Sweet Home Alabama? And, Dion(?) using the names Abraham, Martin and John (and Bobby Kennedy) in his song of the same name?

I'm aware that many songs mention famous people - but that isn't exactly my concern. Maybe I didn't express the situation clearly.

My song creats a fictional conversation in which the person speaks. ... presenting my invented words as if they were her own. That's my worry - is it presumptuous of me to put words in this person's mouth, even if they are based on biographical research?

Talking it over with the band last night, we decided to keep it generic, because then it can apply to any mother and daughter, it's a more universal story.

There is a quasilegal distinction between public personnae and private.

Bill Smith has a right to expect privacy -- until he puts himself in the public eye in some way.

If you talk about someone's public personna that's one thing.

If you talk about some facet of their life where they have a right to expect privacy -- that's another.

So if you comment on Neil Young's publicly released musical works ("I hear Mr Young put us down...") you're probably on safe ground. But if you make a crack about his kids, you might be staring down a very ticked off Canuck with some very big, nasty lawyers.

By the same token, those who live their "private lives" in public and hire PR people to disseminate tidbits from that "private life" have substantially weakened ground to stand on.

But for everyday private citizens who do not market themselves, there is a very good expectation of privacy in most aspects of their lives.

Um... I'm not feeling very lawyerly today (good thing, since I'm a college dropout) so anyone with a better grasp on the issues is encouraged to enhnace or correct my wan attempts.