In the credits for a production, do I have to use TRUE names.?

Question

for instance, say my name is john smith, some freinds and I put together a production, and I do the script and musical score, is it legal to to say
'written by: john smith'
music: johnny smitherines" etc

is it a form of fraud? I'd think not, as long asthe persons involved 'know' what will be on the credits'

can u put peoples names that doesnt exist?? for the sake of making the project seem larger than it was. :)

well one q at a time.
i know ive seen nicknames and even obscenities in some credits.
so does the credits matter, does any legal folk care about that stuff?

??

commonsense: yes thats it "give the project some weight" thats the word i was looking for.
we have a production studio and a few titles we're working on. its all amatuer for now, but we have a high skill crew. they would kill me if i told u any more:))
i can email u jan08 when we put out our first gig if u want.
thanks for the answer

top 10 folk thanks for anwering

Answer 1

You are supposed to use their real name. They can sue you later for not giving them credit. If no one actually did "makeup" for example it might be fun to invent a name to give the project some weight. But no one really reads credits beyond the names of the star, producers, directors and writers, cinematography and music. I am curious, was this just a 'fun' project, making a movie for kicks, or did you have a screenplay, etc and tried to make an indie?

Answer 2

This is pretty common, actually. It's not fair to use a pseudonym for someone who wants and deserves credit for their work, however. Other than that, you can use any "professional" name you want. In fact, in most things you do in life, you can use a fake name as long as it was not done with intent to deceive for an unlawful purpose, i.e. fraud. I wish I could remember it, but there was a common name used in Hollywood for directors who wanted to remain anonymous. Certainly, for you and your friends who agree, you can make up names legally.

Answer 3

Give credit when it is due. Thus, cite only persons who really worked on the project.