Oh, We (Un)Happy Few

There was a news item in The Guardian which is a bit disturbing from a literary viewpoint: thriller writer Lalie Walker wrote her latest book, Aux Malheurs des Dames, as a tribute to a Montmartre fabric store in Paris called the Marché Saint Pierre. The owners of the store were so incensed at this slap against their delicate honor, they're taking her to court, suing the author for close to $3 million U.S. for "defamation." (As the publisher's attorney points out, the Louvre didn't sue Dan Brown when The Da Vinci Code portrayed murders taking place in the museum.) Walker, shell-shocked by the turn of events, is taking the lawsuit seriously, noting that it goes far beyond this one case:  "It means that every time you want to write a work of fiction you have to ask the permission of the owners or the place. Potentially it represents a big threat to our liberty." She added, "We will all have to end up writing science fiction instead."  Quelle folie?