Cease and desist

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"Cease and Desist" redirects here. For the Alice Glass song, see Cease and Desist (song).

A cease and desist letter is a document sent to an individual or business to stop allegedly illegal activity. The phrase "cease and desist" is a legal doublet, made up of two near-synonyms. The letter may warn that, if the recipient does not discontinue specified conduct, or take certain actions, by deadlines set in the letter, that party, i.e. the letter's recipient, may be sued.[1][2] When issued by a public authority, a cease and desist letter, being "a warning of impending judicial enforcement",[3] is most appropriately called a "cease and desist order".

Usage for intellectual property[]

Although cease and desist letters are not exclusively used in the area of intellectual property, particularly in regards to copyright infringement, such letters "are frequently utilized in disputes concerning intellectual property and represent an important feature of the intellectual property law landscape".[2] The holder of an intellectual property right such as a copyrighted work, a trademark, or a patent, may send the cease and desist letter to inform a third party "of the right holders' rights, identity, and intentions to enforce the rights". The letter may merely contain a licensing offer or may be an explicit threat of a lawsuit. A cease and desist letter often triggers licensing negotiations, and is a frequent first step towards litigation.[2]

Effects on recipients[]

Receiving numerous cease and desist letters may be very costly for the recipient. Each claim in the letters must be evaluated, and it should be decided whether to respond to the letters, "whether or not to obtain an attorney's opinion letter, prepare for a lawsuit, and perhaps initiate [in case of letters regarding a potential patent infringement] a search for alternatives and the development of design-around technologies".[2]

Cease and desist letters are sometimes used to intimidate recipients and can be "an effective tool used by corporations to chill the critical speech of gripe sites operators".[4] A company owning a trademark may send such letter to a gripe site operator alleging a trademark infringement, although the actual use of the trademark by the gripe site operator may fall under a fair use exception (in compliance with, in the U.S., the protection of free speech under the First Amendment).[4]

Notable cease and desist letters[]

2017[]

In 2017, a cease and desist letter sent by Netflix was noted by news outlets such as Fortune and Quartz for its humorous wording.[5]

The sign-off message broadcast by DWWX-TV (ABS-CBN Manila) before stopping all broadcasts at 7:52 pm (PST) in compliance with the NTC order because of franchise expiry on May 5, 2020.

2020[]

The Philippine National Telecommunications Commission issued a cease and desist letter ordering ABS-CBN to stop broadcasting on May 5, 2020, after its franchise expiry the day before (May 4, 2020). At 7:45 in the evening, ABS-CBN stopped its terrestrial broadcast. In compliance with the government order, ABS-CBN signed-off all of its radio stations and free television channels (Channel 2, DZMM, and MOR). The NTC gave ABS-CBN 10 days to explain why its assigned frequencies should not be recalled. On June 30, 2020, considering that Channel 43 was also included in the May 5, 2020 cease and desist letter issued by the NTC against ABS-CBN (although ABS-CBN CEO Carlo Katigbak insisted that it is part of their blocktime agreement with Amcara Broadcasting Network), the NTC and Solicitor General Jose Calida released two alias shutdown orders against Channel 43 on digital receiver ABS-CBN TV Plus and Sky Cable's nationwide satellite service Sky Direct.[6]

Donald Trump also sent a cease and desist letter to CNN asking them to retract a poll that showed him being 14 percentage points behind his opponent Joe Biden during the presidential election,[7] prompting The Atlantic to warn about such attacks on the media.[8]

2021[]

In 2021, Google's platform YouTube issued a significant number of cease and desist notices to the creators of various music bots on Discord. Some of the most notable bots to be sent this notice were Rythm and Groovy; one of the most popular bots on the platform. The bot allowed users to request songs and have the bot create a queue. It pulled the audio from various streaming audio and video platforms, including YouTube, and then played that audio on the Discord voice channel. Unlike on the YouTube website, such music bots did not play any advertisements from YouTube, resulting in missing revenue for YouTube and the content uploaders. A spokesperson for Google told The Verge that Groovy violated YouTube's terms of service for "modifying the service and using it for commercial purposes".[9] The makers of Groovy had decided to comply with Google's request by shutting down the bot on August 30, 2021. According to estimations, the bot had more than 250 million users.[10]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Gold, Michael Evan. An Introduction to Labor Law, p. 17 (Cornell University Press, 1998).
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Trimble, Marketa (2010). "Setting Foot on Enemy Ground: Cease-and-Desist Letters, DMCA Notifications and Personal Jurisdiction in Declaratory Judgment Actions". IDEA: The Intellectual Property Law Review. 50 (4): 777–830. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
  3. ^ Lorch, Robert Stuart (1980). Democratic Process and Administrative Law. Wayne State University Press. p. 158. ISBN 9780814315132.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b Braswell, Rachael (2007). "Consumer Gripe Sites, Intellectual Property Law, and the Use of Cease-and-Desist Letters to Chill Protected Speech on the Internet". Fordham Intell. Prop. Media & Ent. L.J. 17 (4): 1241–1287. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
  5. ^ Pinsker, Joe (September 21, 2017). "Netflix's 'Stranger Things' Cease-and-Desist Letter Wasn't That Cool". The Atlantic.
  6. ^ "NTC to issue alias shutdown order vs ABS-CBN after getting SolGen advice". ABS-CBN News. June 29, 2020. Archived from the original on June 30, 2020. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
  7. ^ Cummings, William. "Trump campaign sends CNN 'cease and desist' letter, demands it retract poll that found Biden up 14 points". USA TODAY.
  8. ^ Solender, Andrew. "Trump Campaign Demands CNN Apologize And Retract Poll Showing Biden Up 14 Points". Forbes.
  9. ^ Warren, Tom (2021-08-24). "YouTube is forcing the popular Groovy Discord music bot offline". The Verge. Retrieved 2021-08-29.
  10. ^ tinelund (2021-07-25). "Groovy Bot The Best Music Bot for Discord. Groovy Bot Discord might be among the best bots created in this ten years". Tinelund.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 2021-08-29.

External links[]

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