Do fiction books have to state that the book is a work of fiction?

A lot of fiction books have the statement "This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental." Is this legally required, or is it for the really dense people who might think the book is actually real?

Do fiction books have to state that the book is a work of fiction?
I think the other answer you got is correct, but I wanted to add that the phrase you are referring to is more of a disclaimer.





Authors often use real events or people as inspiration for their work, but they will either change the names or details in order to call their book fiction (and not get sued for libel). It is much more dangerous in this litigious day and age to write a book and call it non-fiction--you'd better be able to prove it. But to fictionalize something even though it's real gives them some deniability.
Reply:They do so by calling it a "novel" which, by definition, is a "work of fiction."
Reply:Yes and yes. Books have to use this so people with no lives and lunatics don't go around causing legal issues. Also the dense people are kinda crazy.
Reply:This is an all-purpose disclaimer,designed to absolve anyone from slander claims and is legally binding.Also,owners need to know where to stack the books and under what catagory
Reply:It is both for the owner to know where to put the book, and because there might be some stuff that will point to a certain person(a the it might be something bad so the person wouldn't like others to think that that is him), and because someone can dedicate the book to himself("hey this one is writing about me, someone has dedicated a book to me!!").
Reply:I think somewhere it must be stated that it is fiction. Otherwise, the bookstores wouldn't know where to shelve it. (It is also need for the library of congress' number.)
Reply:Absolutely no requirement. Some books/movies often do feature such a disclaimer, but that is purely to prevent someone from claiming that "that happened to me", or "hey, that's my story they're telling" and suing for damages. If you notice, this is often done when the work is satirical.

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