WcDonalds is probably one of the most well known examples of changing a real name to one that is fictional, since McDonalds made it part of their bag for a few months.
I think you’re touching on trademark infringement already with what you covered. I would also guess to remove any legal liability for slander/libel. There are legal protections for satire, but even that has limits. If you make a villain that kills people love a particular brand of burger that company could say you’re suggesting only criminals like their product opening up the author for a lawsuit.
Probably to completely sidestep copyright / permission concerns. But can you give an example?
WcDonalds is probably one of the most well known examples of changing a real name to one that is fictional, since McDonalds made it part of their bag for a few months.
They were not wrong:
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/wc
I think you’re touching on trademark infringement already with what you covered. I would also guess to remove any legal liability for slander/libel. There are legal protections for satire, but even that has limits. If you make a villain that kills people love a particular brand of burger that company could say you’re suggesting only criminals like their product opening up the author for a lawsuit.
Right… and I really wanted the OP to give an example in case everyone was misunderstanding some nuance in what they were referring to.