Cease & Desist
| Synonyms: | C&D notice, C&D letter | |
| See also: | DMCA | |
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A cease & desist (or C&D) is a letter demanding that someone stop doing something, or face legal consequences. For fans, this most often means a letter sent by a legal representive of a corporation, demanding that the fan shut down a fan website, remove fanfiction, remove fanvids, remove images, etc., that the corporation believes infringes on its rights.
Since most fans don't have the financial means to risk a court case -- and may well agree that their work was infringing, even if not maliciously meant -- C&Ds are usually obeyed. Fan sites/fanworks come down, either permanently or to be moved quietly to a new location, possibly under a different name.
More recently, U.S. corporations have also begun turning to DMCA notices sent to U.S.-based ISPs and webhosting companies, who are obligated by law to comply and remove or block the "infringing" content without investigating any further -- the default assumption is that any DMCA claim is legitimate. It's then up to the fan to contest the claim (assuming they even find out who submitted it), which again, most fans don't have the resources to do.
Notable C&Ds sent to fans
- Dreadnought Explorations, a Star Trek zine that Paramount threatened (1970s)
- 20th Century Fox shutdown of X-Files websites in the mid-1990s. (see X-Files Cease & Desist for more details)
- Chelsea Quinn Yarbro regarding The Holmesian Federation (1991) [1]
- Marion Zimmer Bradley (1992) [2]
- Knightwriter case and Rat Patrol (1997) (See Knightwriter for more details)
- Mercedes Lackey previously allowed fans to write fan fiction in her Valdemar universe only if they signed a release form and only if the fan fiction was not posted online [3]. More recently, she has announced that fanfic in her original worlds is permissible under a Creative Commons license.[4]
- On Holy Ground, a Forever Knight charity zine (2000)
- In October 2000, Fandom, Inc. sent a C&D to Carol Burrell claiming that her domain, fandom.tv, infringed on their (non-existent) trademark of the term "fandom", and demanding that she transfer the domain to them and never use the word "fandom" in a domain name again. Burrell chose not to comply. (See Fandom, Inc. for details.)
- Restricted Section, an adult Harry Potter fan fiction archive (2003)
- Lionheart Press in 2005 by Warner Brothers, forcing the fanzine publisher to stop selling fanzines[5]
- In 2005, the MPAA sent letters to several Harry Potter fan fiction archives [6] [7] for their use of PG-13, R and NC-17 ratings on the fan fiction. [8] [9]
- In 2007, Funimation sent C&D letters to two fansub groups working on Gonzo's RomeoxJuliet. Both groups complied.[10] This was the first publicized C&D sent to a North American fansub group while an anime series was still airing in Japan.[11]
For more examples of C&D notices across fandom, click here
Resources
There are organizations to help fight inappropriate C&Ds.
- The Organization for Transformative Works, a nonprofit fannish endeavor, has a legal committee that will listen to any fan who's received a C&D or DMCA notice, and will connect them to other organizations that can offer direct help, such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
- The Electronic Frontier Foundation, while not specifically fannish, is dedicated to protecting online civil liberties.
References
- ↑ Fan Works Inc. Fan Fiction Policies >> Yarbro, Chelsea Quinn (accessed 14 Mar 2010)
- ↑ Fan Works Inc. Fan Fiction Policies >> Bradley, Marion Zimmer (accessed 14 Mar 2010)
- ↑ "Queen's Own Fan Fiction Guidelines (accessed 14 Mar 2010)
- ↑ Worlds of Mercedes Lackey - News (bottom of page) Accessed March 14, 2010.
- ↑ Incognito a Man from UNCLe slash ezine > links (accessed 14 Mar 2010)
- ↑ "Copy of original c&d letter to netroenterprises.com (accessed 14 Mar 2010)
- ↑ "Copy of original c&d letter to timeturner.net (accessed 14 Mar 2010)
- ↑ "The MPAA goes after fandom": Fanthropology Livejournal Community (accessed 14 Mar 2010)
- ↑ Legal discussion of the MPAA's actions: Fandom Lawyers Livejournal Community (accessed 14 Mar 2010)
- ↑ Gonzo Halts Romeo×Juliet Fansub with FUNimation's Help posted Sept. 28, 2007. Accessed Nov. 25, 2012.
- ↑ Romeo x Juliet "To my knowledge this is the first occurence of Japanese company actually sending a C&D during an ongoing anime" posted Sept. 27, 2007. Accessed Nov. 25, 2012.
