Member publishes book on fictionalization in fact-based films and TV

Longtime National Pres Club member John T. Aquino’s second and updated edition of "Truth and Lives on Film: The Legal Problems in Depicting Real Persons and Events in a Fictional Medium" has just been published by McFarland & Co.

The book gives a history of litigation concerning fictionalizations in fact-based films and television and an analysis of the legal issues. For example, if a person falsely portrayed in a film is dead when the film is released, a court can no longer financially restore his/her reputation, and any monies cannot be given to the plaintiff’s heirs because it is not their reputations that were damaged. 

Aquino provides case histories, including an extensive presentation on the privacy trial concerning the film "The Perfect Storm," and specifically analyzes courtroom dramas to compare the films to the actual documentation of the trials. Among more recent films included in this edition are "Loving" and "The Trial of the Chicago 7."

Aquino also discusses the question of whether false portrayals of individuals and events erode the meaning of the truth. He writes that the second edition explores the issue in greater detail given the recent practice of politicians and others issuing “alternate facts.”

Aquino is a Silver Owl member of the Club, an attorney and a journalist. He retired as a senior legal editor for Bloomberg Law in 2017, is a freelance journalist, a fiction writer, and an active member of the D.C. and Maryland bars.

The book is available from the publisher’s website, Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Aquino will discuss the book and answer questions at an upcoming Zoom meeting of the Club's Member Author Group.