Cease and desist

Last updated

A cease and desist letter is a document sent by one party, often a business, to warn another party that they believe the other party is committing an unlawful act, such as copyright 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 a legal doublet, made up of two near-synonyms. A cease and desist letter issued by a government entity, called a cease and desist order, is "a warning of impending judicial enforcement". [3]

Contents

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 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 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

2000s

To prevent genericizing and potential loss of its trademark, Google has discouraged use of the word as a verb, particularly when used as a synonym for 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 tracks neologisms. [6] In an article in The 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

Author Patrick Wensink used Jack Daniel's famous branding without licensing as a cover for his 2012 book Broken 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 by Netflix for an unauthorized Stranger Things -related bar event was noted by news outlets such as Fortune and Quartz for its humorous wording. [10]

2020s

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 ABS-CBN broadcast sign-off on May 5, 2020.png
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

The Philippine National Telecommunications Commission administered a cease and desist order against ABS-CBN to stop broadcasting on 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 off all of its free TV and radio stations across the country (ABS-CBN Channel 2, S+A Channel 23, DZMM 630, and MOR 101.9). The said agency also gave ABS-CBN ten days to explain why its assigned frequencies should not be recalled. [11] On June 30, 2020, considering that Channel 43 was also included in the May 5, 2020 shutdown order issued by the NTC against ABS-CBN (although ABS-CBN CEO Carlo L. Katigbak insisted that it is part of their blocktime agreement with AMCARA Broadcasting Network), the NTC and Solicitor General Jose Calida released two alias cease-and-desist orders against Channel 43 on digital TV receiver ABS-CBN TV Plus and Sky Cable's nationwide satellite service Sky Direct to cease further operations. [12]

Donald Trump 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, [13] prompting The Atlantic to warn about attacks on the media. [14]

In 2021, Google's platform YouTube issued a significant number of cease and desist notices to the creators of various music bots on Discord, 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 various streaming and video 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 told The Verge that Groovy violated YouTube's terms of service for "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, Disney issued a letter of cease and desist to the creators of Club Penguin Rewritten , a game that was created as a remake of Club Penguin after its shutdown on March 31, 2017. [17]

Google issued a letter of cease and desist to the creators of YouTube Vanced, an Android app developed as a third-party modification of YouTube. The app, which utilizes apk (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]

On January 22, 2024, the National Telecommunications Commission issued a cease-and-desist order to Sonshine Media Network International, citing its failure to comply with the original 30-day suspension order issued by the said agency. [19] [20]

Nintendo issued a letter of cease and desist to the creators of Yuzu (emulator), a video game console emulator for the Nintendo Switch. The program allowed its users to not pay or participate in grinding for downloadable content, such as all of its Booster Course Passes and a Gold Mario for Mario Kart 8. [21] [22] [23] The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom was released May 12, 2023; however, an internet leak was discovered on file hosting site https://nyaa.si/ dated May 1, 2023. The file can then be read by Ryujinx, a Nintendo Switch emulator. [24] [25]

See also

Related Research Articles

A declaratory judgment, also called a declaration, is the legal determination of a court that resolves legal uncertainty for the litigants. It is a form of legally binding preventive by which a party involved in an actual or possible legal matter can ask a court to conclusively rule on and affirm the rights, duties, or obligations of one or more parties in a civil dispute. The declaratory judgment is generally considered a statutory remedy and not an equitable remedy in the United States, and is thus not subject to equitable requirements, though there are analogies that can be found in the remedies granted by courts of equity. A declaratory judgment does not by itself order any action by a party, or imply damages or an injunction, although it may be accompanied by one or more other remedies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ABS-CBN</span> Commercial media network in the Philippines

ABS-CBN was a Philippine commercial broadcast network that served as the flagship property of the ABS-CBN Corporation, a company under the Lopez Holdings Corporation. The network was headquartered at the ABS-CBN Broadcasting Center in Quezon City, that had additional offices and production facilities in 25 major cities including Baguio, Naga, Bacolod, Iloilo, Cebu, Davao, and Bulacan, where ABS-CBN's production and post-production facility in Horizon IT Park is located. ABS-CBN was colloquially referred to as the Kapamilya Network; its brand was originally introduced in 1999 and was officially introduced in 2003 during the celebration of its 50th anniversary, and was used until it was forced by the National Telecommunications Commission to cease and desist from free-to-air broadcasting due to the lack of congressional franchise. ABS-CBN is the largest media company in the Philippines and is the oldest television broadcaster in Southeast Asia. The network is metonymically called as "Ignacia" due to the location of its headquarters ABS-CBN Broadcasting Center along Mother Ignacia Street in Quezon City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DWWX-TV</span> Defunct Philippine television station of ABS-CBN

DWWX-TV was the flagship VHF station of Philippine television network ABS-CBN. The station was owned and operated by ABS-CBN Corporation with its studio and transmitter located at the ABS-CBN Broadcasting Center, Sgt. Esguerra Avenue corner Mother Ignacia Avenue, Diliman, Quezon City. It was the first and oldest television station in the Philippines. The station served as the originating channel of the network's national television programming, which broadcast to all its regional stations.

Kapamilya Channel is a 24-hour Philippine pay television network operated by ABS-CBN Corporation, a subsidiary of the Lopez Holdings Corporation. The network's headquarters are at the ABS-CBN Broadcasting Center in Quezon City. Kapamilya Channel broadcasts in high definition with a 1080i resolution. It serves as the flagship TV network of ABS-CBN Corporation.

AMCARA Broadcasting Network was a Philippine television broadcast company. The company is located in Katipunan Avenue, Loyola Heights, Quezon City. The company is majority-owned by the heirs of Arcadio M. Carandang, one of the pioneers of Philippine television who worked for ABS-CBN.

A legal threat is a statement by a party that it intends to take legal action on another party, generally accompanied by a demand that the other party take an action demanded by the first party or refrain from taking or continuing actions objected to by the demanding party.

<i>Failon Ngayon</i> 2009–20 Philippine television news magazine program

Failon Ngayon is a Philippine television documentary show broadcast by ABS-CBN. Hosted by Ted Failon, it aired on the network's Yes Weekend line up from October 24, 2009 to May 2, 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeepney TV</span> Filipino cable television channel

Jeepney TV is a Philippine pay television channel owned and operated by Creative Programs, a subsidiary of ABS-CBN Corporation. Its programming features classic television programs produced by ABS-CBN. The channel was named after the jeepney, a vehicle widely used for public transportation in the Philippines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ABS-CBN Sports and Action</span> Defunct free-to-air sports channel in the Philippines

ABS-CBN Sports and Action, was a free-to-air television network based in Quezon City. It was owned by ABS-CBN Corporation with some of its programs produced and licensed by ABS-CBN Sports. In Metro Manila, Sports + Action broadcast terrestrially and through DTT through DWAC-TV, the frequency once used by the defunct national television network Studio 23 until its closure on January 16, 2014, with most of its UHF affiliate stations in the provinces owned by AMCARA Broadcasting Network. It began its operations on January 18, 2014, yet it did not become the company's sole channel for sports until the shutdown of subscription-based counterpart Balls by the end of 2015. Its simulcast high-definition channel was exclusively available on Sky Cable, Destiny Cable and Sky Direct since 2016, while its international feed carried worldwide through The Filipino Channel. Sports + Action's programming is composed primarily of sports coverage such as MPBL, ABL, UAAP, NCAA, Pinoy Pride fights, BVR, PVL and ONE Championship. The program line up of Sports + Action included other sports-related programming, news coverages and blocktimers. S+A broadcast Mondays to Saturdays from 5:00 am to 1:00 am and Sundays from 4:00 am to 1:00 am.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ABS-CBN TV Plus</span> Philippine digital television service

ABS-CBN TV Plus is a Philippine ISDB-T encrypted digital terrestrial television provider owned and operated by ABS-CBN Convergence, a subsidiary of ABS-CBN Corporation. The service distributes digital set-top boxes with freemium and free-to-view digital TV channels, Broadcast Markup Language, Emergency Warning Broadcast system, and pay per view services to selected areas in the Philippines. In order to avail the service, users must buy an ABS-CBN TVplus set-top box and activate it through ABS-CBNmobile SIM card; activation requirements for the digital channels through other mobile networks later became available around the second quarter of 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sky Direct</span> Defunct satellite television provider in the Philippines

Sky Direct was a direct-broadcast satellite subscription television service in the Philippines owned and operated by Sky, a subsidiary of ABS-CBN Corporation. Sky Cable had been eyeing for a DBS service and considered on acquiring Dream Satellite TV from Antonio O. Cojuangco, Jr. The acquisition of Dream was reported to have reached an advanced stage but for some undisclosed reasons, the deal was not sealed. Sky's entry to the DBS market was hindered by various oppositions from the industry, citing legal issues and the slow growth of the pay TV market in the country. On December 23, 2015, Sky was granted by the NTC a provisional authority to operate and maintain a DBS service in 251 cities and municipalities in the country for a period of 18 months. Sky Direct offered both prepaid and postpaid packages with exclusive channels from ABS-CBN and Creative Programs such as ABS-CBN HD, ABS-CBN News Channel, ABS-CBN Sports+Action HD, Cinema One, Jeepney TV, Metro Channel, Liga, and Myx. As of March 2019, Sky Direct had over 1 million subscribers.

Kapamilya Box Office (KBO) was a Philippine pay-per-view television channel. It was initially launched in May 2015 as a pay-per-view channel for the historic boxing match between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. Originally registered as the "TVplus Xtra Channel," it became inactive after the event. In April 2016, the channel was rebranded as KBO.

<i>Magandang Buhay</i> Philippine television talk show

Magandang Buhay is a Philippine television talk show broadcast by ABS-CBN, Kapamilya Channel, A2Z, All TV and Jeepney TV. Originally hosted by Karla Estrada, Melai Cantiveros and Jolina Magdangal, it premiered on April 18, 2016 on the network's Umaganda line up replacing Kris TV. Cantiveros, Magdangal and Regine Velasquez currently serve as the hosts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asianovela Channel</span> Defunct digital television channel in the Philippines

Asianovela Channel was a Philippine defunct free-to-air television channel owned and operated by ABS-CBN Corporation. It was one of the former digital channels of ABS-CBN TV Plus. Its programming consisting of Korean dramas and Asian films dubbed in Filipino. The channel was launched on July 30, 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yuzu (emulator)</span> Discontinued Nintendo Switch emulator

Yuzu is a discontinued free and open-source emulator of the Nintendo Switch, developed in C++. Yuzu was announced to be in development on January 14, 2018, 10 months after the release of the Nintendo Switch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shutdown of ABS-CBN broadcasting</span> Controversy regarding the renewal of the franchise of ABS-CBN in 2020

The shutdown of ABS-CBN broadcasting arose from the lack of renewal of Philippine media network ABS-CBN's congressional broadcast franchise. The disputes between the administrations of Presidents Benigno Aquino III and Rodrigo Duterte and the media conglomerate arose over the terms and conditions of the franchise renewal agreement. Amid the controversy, the Congress of the Philippines, the country's legislature, was unable to renew the franchise before its expiration date. The congressional franchise expired on May 4, 2020, while the Philippines was dealing with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the enhanced community quarantine in Luzon. The next day, exercising constitutional powers, the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) issued a cease-and-desist order demanding ABS-CBN cease all of its free TV and radio broadcasting operations immediately. ABS-CBN complied with the government order and shut down all of its radio stations and free television channels later that day. On June 30, 2020, the NTC released two alias cease-and-desist orders against ABS-CBN TV Plus and Sky Direct.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A2Z (TV channel)</span> Philippine free-to-air television network

A2Z is a Philippine free-to-air blocktime broadcast television network based in Quezon City, with its studios located in Ortigas Center, Pasig. It serves as a flagship property of ZOE Broadcasting Network in partnership with ABS-CBN Corporation as its main content provider through a blocktime agreement. A2Z's flagship television station is DZOE-TV which operates on channel 11, and channel 20. The network's name is an abbreviation derived from the first letter of the names of two media companies, ABS-CBN and ZOE, and the channel number of the now-recalled frequency of the former network.

All TV is a Philippine free-to-air broadcast television network serving as the flagship property of Advanced Media Broadcasting System (AMBS) in partnership with ABS-CBN Corporation as its main content provider through a blocktime agreement. The broadcast facilities and studios are located at Starmall EDSA-Shaw at EDSA corner Shaw Boulevard, Mandaluyong, and Starmall Las Piñas IT Hub along Alabang–Zapote Road corner CV Starr Avenue, Las Piñas; its transmitter is located at the ABS-CBN's Millennium Transmitter, Sgt. Esguerra Ave, Diliman, Quezon City.

Emulators of the Nintendo Switch, Nintendo's current eighth-generation video game console, have been in development since 2017, less than a year after the console's release. Multiple emulators have been in development, the most well-known being Yuzu and Ryujinx, both now defunct. Switch emulators have been widely noted by video games journalists for the swift and significant progress of their abilities to accurately emulate the console, as they are already able to run existing and new titles for the console in a playable state, sometimes within days of their release, as well as able to run on a variety of devices, including PCs running Windows and Linux, and the Steam Deck.

Nintendo is one of the largest video game publishers in the world, producing both hardware and software. Since the release of the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1985, the company has generally been proactive to assure its intellectual property in both hardware and software is legally protected. Nintendo's protection of its properties began as early as the arcade release of Donkey Kong which was widely cloned on other platforms, a practice common to the most popular arcade games of the era. Nintendo did seek legal action to try to stop release of these unauthorized clones, but estimated they still lost $100 million in potential sales to these clones. Nintendo also fought off a claim in 1983 by Universal Pictures that Donkey Kong was a derivative element of their King Kong in Universal City Studios, Inc. v. Nintendo Co., Ltd.; notably, Nintendo's lawyer, John Kirby, became the namesake of Kirby in honor of the successful defense.

References

  1. ↑ Gold, Michael Evan. An Introduction to Labor Law , p. 17 (Cornell University Press, 1998).
  2. 1 2 3 4 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. Archived from the original on 17 November 2013. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
  3. ↑ Lorch, Robert Stuart (1980). Democratic Process and Administrative Law. Wayne State University Press. p.  158. ISBN   9780814315132.
  4. 1 2 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. Archived from the original on 4 November 2013. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
  5. ↑ McFedries, Paul (23 February 2003). "Google trademark concerns". American Dialect Society Mailing List. Archived from the original on 3 July 2007. Retrieved 11 August 2007.
  6. ↑ Duffy, Jonathan (20 June 2003). "Google calls in the 'language police'". BBC News . Retrieved 20 April 2024.
  7. ↑ Frank Ahrens (5 August 2006). "So Google Is No Brand X, but What Is 'Genericide'?". The Washington Post . Retrieved 5 August 2006.
  8. ↑ Carrns, Ann (19 September 2012). "Delta Cracks Down on Mileage Tracking Sites". Bucks Blog. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
  9. ↑ Perez, Sarah (16 September 2012). "Delta Sends C&Ds To Startups Tracking Airline Rewards; MileWise, AwardWallet & Others Affected". TechCrunch. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
  10. ↑ Pinsker, Joe (21 September 2017). "Netflix's 'Stranger Things' Cease-and-Desist Letter Wasn't That Cool". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on 13 July 2020. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
  11. ↑ "ABS-CBN to go off air in compliance with NTC order". ABS-CBN News . 5 May 2020. Archived from the original on 9 October 2021. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  12. ↑ "NTC to issue alias shutdown order vs ABS-CBN after getting SolGen advice". ABS-CBN News . 29 June 2020. Archived from the original on 30 June 2020. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  13. ↑ Cummings, William. "Trump campaign sends CNN 'cease and desist' letter, demands it retract poll that found Biden up 14 points". USA Today. Archived from the original on 12 June 2020. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
  14. ↑ Solender, Andrew. "Trump Campaign Demands CNN Apologize And Retract Poll Showing Biden Up 14 Points". Forbes. Archived from the original on 13 July 2020. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
  15. ↑ Warren, Tom (24 August 2021). "YouTube is forcing the popular Groovy Discord music bot offline". The Verge. Archived from the original on 5 October 2021. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  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 from the original on 29 August 2021. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  17. ↑ "Club Penguin Rewritten Shut Down by Disney". 13 April 2022. Archived from the original on 13 April 2022. Retrieved 13 April 2022.
  18. ↑ "YouTube Vanced is shutting down after a legal threat from Google". Business Insider . 12 March 2022. Archived from the original on 24 May 2022. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
  19. ↑ Cariaso, Bella (23 January 2024). "NTC makes 30-day SMNI suspension indefinite". The Philippine Star . Retrieved 23 January 2024.
  20. ↑ Gulla, Vivienne (23 January 2024). "NTC orders SMNI to cease and desist operations pending final resolution of case". ABS-CBN News . Retrieved 23 January 2024.
  21. ↑ |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
  22. ↑ "Mario Kart™ 8 Deluxe – Booster Course Pass for Nintendo Switch - Nintendo Official Site".
  23. ↑ "Mario Kart 8 Deluxe v3.0.1 DLC Wave 6 COMPLETE + Yuzu EA 4176 [MK8D PC Windows] - SEPH1".
  24. ↑ Fenion, Wes (8 May 2023). "Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom's leak has turned into one giant mess for the emulation community". PC Gamer.
  25. ↑ "The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Leaked XCI".
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.