Sending a cease and desist letter is a common way to notify someone that they are using your copyright protected material without your permission and to request that they remove the infringing use and/or pay up.
The owner of the copyright protected material (ie the author, photographer or commissioner of the original work) has the authority to issue a cease and desist letter. If the infringing use is on a social media website or popular internet website, look to the TERMS or TERMS OF USE agreement posted to the website (usually a clickable at the bottom of the page) for step by step instructions on how to draft your cease and desist letter. Generally, the ‘Terms of Use’ on a reputable website provide a clear outline of the information that needs to be included in your letter. Click on the ‘Terms of Use’; scroll down to the ‘Protecting Copyright and Intellectual Property’ section; use the language provided; and give the requested information to the provided contact.
A cease and desist letter is only effective if it is sent by the owner of the work. A funny scenario surfaced recently, when a news agency sent a cease and desist letter requesting that a photograph taken by a monkey be removed from a website. But hold on… who owns the copyright in a monkey’s self portrait anyway?!? Evidently, a monkey in a national park in Indonesia picked up a photographer’s camera and snapped a few pictures. (One of them is this hilarious self portrait of the monkey. See above or take a look at –> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110706/00200314983/monkey-business-can-monkey-license-its-copyrights-to-news-agency.shtml .)
Since, the news agency didn’t employ the monkey or own the monkey, nor did it license the monkey’s work… the cease and desist letter that it sent… doesn’t have much oomph.
For more info on what to do if you receive a cease and desist letter, see –> http://wp.me/p10nNq-1B
BY: Vanessa Kaster, Esq.
For more personalized legal services contact me at vk@kasterlegal.com and www.kasterlegal.com
What do you do if you get a cease and desist letter?
September 14, 2010
A cease and desist letter is a formal, legal letter that often contains a simple request that the recipient stop using the sender’s stuff. If you receive a cease and desist letter, then someone is probably claiming that you are using their stuff without permission. Be brave and open the letter (despite the scary envelope) and find out what the sender wants you to stop using.
It’s pretty common for a cease and desist letter to be sent in response to content posted on a website. If for example, the friend you hired to build your website lifted graphics or photos from another website, then it’s likely that you will be asked to stop (ie, cease and desist from) using the photos. Similarly, if you include someone else’s trademark (like the word Popsicle or Xerox) in your business name or blog postings about your business, then it’s likely that you will be asked to stop using the trademark term.
Keep in mind that it doesn’t matter if you ‘did not know’ that you were using someone else’s stuff. Just because your web-builder-friend didn’t tell you that he lifted the photos that he used on your website from another website, doesn’t get you off the hook. Nor does it matter, if you didn’t know that Popsicle is a registered trademark. The bottom line is that if you are using someone else’s stuff without permission.
The easy solution… is to stop using their stuff. (Take their stuff off your website… and replace it with your own stuff… or stuff that you have permission to use.)
For information on writing a cease and desist letter, see –> http://wp.me/p10nNq-b5
