(Back in the 90s was still largely determined by looking in several metropolitan phone books.) If only a few people have that name, then there’s increased risk somebody with that name might try to sue for defamation (despite all the disclaimers about the work being fiction). Whether they were naming an actual on-screen character or just a passing reference to somebody’s cousin, the name was run by the studio legal department for “clearance.” They used several criteria, including how common the name is. I have a couple friends who write scripts for television, including sitcoms. Sometimes your name would be turned into a business name, like R. Lots of people signed the releases because, back then, it was still fun to see your name in print. I don’t know why Owen May is used for so many locales.Īt one software company I worked, there was a release form where you could grant the company the right to use your name fictitiously in documentation and marketing stuff. This special mode is used when a computer is set up on a sales floor and runs an attract loop. Just for fun, I’ll do the same for the name used by the fictitious account used by the retail demo experience.

Some time ago, I went to all the locales I could find and extracted the sample names that are used to help you set up an account.

Windows 10 demo 2019