Craft Chat Using primary sources in Historical fiction

[JoanUP]

Hi Litopians
I am working on a historical fiction based on research I've accumulated on the life of my grandfather. My first chapter (Society of American Fakirs) was on PopUp submissions, but can't seem to find the link.
I'm considering a format where each chapter starts with the short newspaper article (2-3 sentences) that inspired the chapter, or at least one that is somewhat related to the chapter. I'm struggling with how to resolve discrepancies between the newspaper article and the fictional character, for example, name changes, and the exact date of the event.

Is it ok for me to change the names and dates in the article?
Do I need to change the name of the newspaper?
Is this plagiarism?

Hopefully, I'm overthinking this. I appreciate any guidance!
Joan

 

[Rachael Burnett]

This best thing to do is to research copyright in the country of the publication to see what is and isn’t allowed. Check out the dates of publication and when items become fair use, and how much you can quote in a publication. You might want to consider asking permission from the copyright holder. If you specifically find that a copyright holder doesn’t exist (I.e. the publication is no longer in business) find out what copyright law says in your region about usage in this case. Changing the names and dates won’t avoid copyright infringement.

 

[Pamela Jo]

It's fiction so use the info but rewrite it to fit your story instead of using the original. Add something in a foreword to make this clear.