A writer published a fictional book centered on a villain, a criminal, and a swindler. The character in the book was described as an Israeli, an intelligence lecturer at Sofia University, a real estate developer in Bulgaria, who had undergone gastric bypass surgery, and was diabetic – details that exactly match a businessman with whom he had previously had a conflict.
The court ruled that the author committed the torts of defamation and invasion of privacy. The examination of the possibility of identifying a fictional character with a character in the real world is done by the “reasonable acquaintance.” Defamation, among other things, is something that may humiliate a person in the eyes of others or harm him. The law attempts to balance freedom of expression to gain a good name and privacy. It is necessary to objectively examine what meaning a reasonable reader would attribute to the words. The invasion of privacy is examined in each case according to his individual circumstances. Here, the inclusion of the unique biographical details allows the businessman’s acquaintances to easily identify him and the reasonable reader would attribute to the words a presentation of the character in a negative light, which may humiliate and harm the businessman. The author acted with the intention of harming, among other things, by creating a link in search engines between the businessman’s name and the book. In addition, providing information about the plaintiff’s health condition, the fact that he underwent gastric bypass surgery for his excess weight, and his diabetes, constitute an invasion of his privacy. Therefore, the author was ordered to pay compensation and remove identifying details from the book.
