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Cease and desist

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

Acease and desistletter is a document sent by one party, often abusiness,to warn another party that they believe the other party is committing an unlawful act, such ascopyright infringement,and that they will take legal action if the other party continues the alleged unlawful activity. The letter may warn that, if the recipient does not discontinue specified conduct, or take certain actions, by deadlines set in the letter, the letter's recipient may be sued.[1][2]The phrase "cease and desist" is alegal doublet,made up of two near-synonyms. A cease and desist letter issued by a government entity, called acease and desist order,is "a warning of impending judicial enforcement".[3]

Usage for intellectual property

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Although cease and desist letters are not exclusively used in the area ofintellectual property,particularly in regards tocopyright 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 acopyrightedwork, atrademark,or apatent,may send the cease and desist letter to inform a third party "of the right holder's 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 triggerslicensingnegotiations, and is a frequent first step towardslitigation.[2]

Effects on recipients

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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 tointimidaterecipients and can be "an effective tool used by corporations to chill the critical speech ofgripe sitesoperators ".[4]A company owning atrademarkmay send such letter to a gripe site operator alleging atrademark infringement,although the actual use of the trademark by the gripe site operator may fall under afair useexception (in compliance with, in the U.S., the protection of free speech under theFirst Amendment).[4]

Notable cease and desist letters

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2000s

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To preventgenericizingand potential loss of itstrademark,Googlehas discouraged use of the word as a verb, particularly when used as asynonymfor general web searching. On February 23, 2003,[5]Google sent a cease and desist letter to Paul McFedries, creator of Word Spy, a website that tracksneologisms.[6]In an article inThe Washington Post,Frank Ahrens discussed the letter he received from a Google lawyer that demonstrated "appropriate" and "inappropriate" ways to use the verb "google".[7]

2010s

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AuthorPatrick WensinkusedJack Daniel'sfamous branding without licensing as a cover for his 2012 bookBroken Piano for President.Jack Daniel's requested only future printings of the book to have the cover changed and offered compensation.

In September 2012,AwardWallet,TripIt and MileWise received a number of cease and desist letters from American Airlines, Delta, United Airlines and Southwest Airlines, demanding that companies discontinue accessing their websites for tracking clients' miles rewards programs.[8][9]

In 2017, a cease and desist letter sent byNetflixfor an unauthorizedStranger Things-relatedbarevent was noted by news outlets such asFortuneandQuartzfor itshumorouswording.[10]

2020s

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

ThePhilippineNational Telecommunications Commissionadministered a cease and desist order againstABS-CBNtostop broadcastingon May 5, 2020 after its franchise expired the day before (May 4, 2020). At 7:52 pm (PHT), ABS-CBN stopped its broadcast in compliance with the NTC's letter,signing offall of its free TV and radio stations across the country (ABS-CBN Channel 2,S+A Channel 23,DZMM 630,andMOR 101.9). The said agency also gave ABS-CBN ten days to explain why its assigned frequencies should not berecalled.[11]On June 30, 2020, considering thatChannel 43was also included in the May 5, 2020 shutdown order issued by the NTC against ABS-CBN (although ABS-CBN CEOCarlo Katigbakinsisted that it is part of theirblocktime agreementwithAMCARA Broadcasting Network), the NTC andSolicitor GeneralJose Calidareleased two alias cease-and-desist orders againstChannel 43on digital TV receiverABS-CBN TV PlusandSky Cable's nationwide satellite serviceSky Directto cease further operations.[12]

Donald Trumpsent a cease and desist letter toCNNasking them to retract a poll that showed him being 14 percentage points behind his opponentJoe Bidenduring thepresidential election,[13]promptingThe Atlanticto warn about attacks on the media.[14]

In 2021,Google's platformYouTubeissued a significant number of cease and desist notices to the creators of various music bots onDiscord,such as Rythm and Groovy. These music bots allowed users to request songs and have the bot create a queue. This was done by pulling the audio stream from variousstreamingandvideo platforms,including YouTube, and then played that audio on the Discord voice channel. Because such music bots did not play any of the advertisements included on the video-hosting site, the company alleged missing revenue for itself and the content uploaders. A spokesperson for Google toldThe Vergethat Groovy violated YouTube'sterms of servicefor "modifying the service and using it for commercial purposes".[15]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.[16]

In 2022,Disneyissued a letter of cease and desist to the creators ofClub Penguin Rewritten,a game that was created as a remake ofClub Penguinafter its shutdown on March 31, 2017.[17]

Googleissued a letter of cease and desist to the creators ofYouTube Vanced,an Android app developed as a third-party modification of YouTube. The app, which utilizesapk (file format),allowed its users to skip advertisements, among other functions. Since March 13, 2022, the app has been discontinued, with all links being removed.[18]

Nintendoissued a letter of cease and desist to the creators ofYuzu (emulator),avideo game console emulatorfor theNintendo Switch.The program allowed its users to not pay or participate ingrindingfordownloadable content,such as all of its Booster Course Passes and a Gold Mario forMario Kart 8.[19][20][21]The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomwas released May 12, 2023; however, aninternet leakwas discovered on file hosting sitehttps://nyaa.si/dated May 1, 2023. The file can then be read by Ryujinx, aNintendo Switch emulator.[22][23]

See also

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References

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  1. ^Gold, Michael Evan.An Introduction to Labor Law,p. 17 (Cornell University Press, 1998).
  2. ^abcdTrimble, 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.Archivedfrom the original on 17 November 2013.Retrieved2 November2013.
  3. ^Lorch, Robert Stuart (1980).Democratic Process and Administrative Law.Wayne State University Press. p.158.ISBN9780814315132.
  4. ^abBraswell, 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.Archivedfrom the original on 4 November 2013.Retrieved2 November2013.
  5. ^McFedries, Paul (23 February 2003)."Google trademark concerns".American Dialect Society Mailing List. Archived fromthe originalon 3 July 2007.Retrieved11 August2007.
  6. ^Duffy, Jonathan (20 June 2003)."Google calls in the 'language police'".BBC News.Retrieved20 April2024.
  7. ^Frank Ahrens (5 August 2006)."So Google Is No Brand X, but What Is 'Genericide'?".The Washington Post.Retrieved5 August2006.
  8. ^Carrns, Ann (19 September 2012)."Delta Cracks Down on Mileage Tracking Sites".Bucks Blog.Retrieved20 June2024.
  9. ^Perez, Sarah (16 September 2012)."Delta Sends C&Ds To Startups Tracking Airline Rewards; MileWise, AwardWallet & Others Affected".TechCrunch.Retrieved20 June2024.
  10. ^Pinsker, Joe (21 September 2017)."Netflix's 'Stranger Things' Cease-and-Desist Letter Wasn't That Cool".The Atlantic.Archivedfrom the original on 13 July 2020.Retrieved13 July2020.
  11. ^"ABS-CBN to go off air in compliance with NTC order".ABS-CBN News.5 May 2020.Archivedfrom the original on 9 October 2021.Retrieved29 October2021.
  12. ^"NTC to issue alias shutdown order vs ABS-CBN after getting SolGen advice".ABS-CBN News.29 June 2020.Archivedfrom the original on 30 June 2020.Retrieved1 July2020.
  13. ^Cummings, William."Trump campaign sends CNN 'cease and desist' letter, demands it retract poll that found Biden up 14 points".USA Today.Archivedfrom the original on 12 June 2020.Retrieved22 June2020.
  14. ^Solender, Andrew."Trump Campaign Demands CNN Apologize And Retract Poll Showing Biden Up 14 Points".Forbes.Archivedfrom the original on 13 July 2020.Retrieved13 July2020.
  15. ^Warren, Tom (24 August 2021)."YouTube is forcing the popular Groovy Discord music bot offline".The Verge.Archivedfrom the original on 5 October 2021.Retrieved29 August2021.
  16. ^tinelund (25 July 2021)."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). Archived fromthe originalon 29 August 2021.Retrieved29 August2021.
  17. ^"Club Penguin Rewritten Shut Down by Disney".13 April 2022.Archivedfrom the original on 13 April 2022.Retrieved13 April2022.
  18. ^"YouTube Vanced is shutting down after a legal threat from Google".Business Insider.12 March 2022.Archivedfrom the original on 24 May 2022.Retrieved19 May2022.
  19. ^|url=https://torrentfreak.com/nintendos-yuzu-lawsuit-aims-to-pour-banana-peels-over-all-emulators-240228/|title=Nintendo’s Yuzu Lawsuit Aims to Pour Banana Peels Over All Emulators |work=TorrentFreak|date=28 February 2024
  20. ^"Mario Kart™ 8 Deluxe – Booster Course Pass for Nintendo Switch - Nintendo Official Site".
  21. ^"Mario Kart 8 Deluxe v3.0.1 DLC Wave 6 COMPLETE + Yuzu EA 4176 [MK8D PC Windows] - SEPH1".
  22. ^Fenion, Wes (8 May 2023)."Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom's leak has turned into one giant mess for the emulation community".PC Gamer.
  23. ^"The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Leaked XCI".
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