If your book is a parody or satire take heed

Chuck Norris is suing Penguin for publishing “The Truth About Chuck Norris: 400 facts about the World’s Greatest Human”, and it’s not a surprise.

The article Chuck Norris sues, says his tears no cancer cure - Yahoo! News reports: “Norris, whose real name is Carlos Ray Norris, claims in the suit he is protective of what his name is associated with. He has recently made U.S. headlines for backing Republican presidential candidate former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.

A spokesman for Penguin, owned by Britain’s Pearson, was not immediately available for comment.”

Take a lesson from this situation if you’re writing a parody, satire, or indeed a roman à clef. People sue.

While I’m not surprised at the law suit, it’s odd that Penguin went to print with this book. This material may have been online for years, but the Internet is not a book.

Books are books. They’re reference material for other books. In 100 years time, this book will still be around, and will probably have been cited in 50 other books. Web sites, on the other hand, are ephemeral.

Take heed.