Lets say we choose a random town off of google maps on which to base a story where the local authorities (we won't say police, or whatnot, but local authorities) perform an investigation that is completely off-protocol and basically corrupt.
Or something like that...the local authorities of X CITY Y STATE are (in a fictional context) completely corrupt and self serving.
The story becomes a hit, and suddenly this previously unknown town has a bad reputation completely based on a random fictional account.
Is this, in the writer's world, a scenario that already has guidelines?
Can a city create a lawsuit against an author for a bad portrayal in fiction?
Answer
Only people can be libelled or slandered. Places cannot.
Provided that you do not write in a way whereby specific public officials could make a case that you are attacking their personal behaviour and reputations, then whatever you think about a place is your own business.
In most western-type jurisdictions, the dead cannot be libelled (that is certainly the case here in the UK which has some of the strictest libel laws around).
The above all assumes you live in a law-abiding country rather than a dictatorship. In those places, all bets are off.
Finally: just because you cannot libel or slander a city doesn't mean that those who operate that city won't get angry. You are not guaranteed a peaceful life if you slag off somewhere that people care about even if they have no direct recourse to the law!
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