Showing you’re serious about protecting your work
If someone is using your copyrighted material without permission, you can sue them
(provided you have officially registered your copyright)—but a Cease and Desist
Letter might just take care of the issue without having to bring the courts into
it.
A Cease and Desist notice informs someone that they are using your work without
your permission and notifies them that they are to stop using that work immediately,
at the risk of legal action. Cease and Desist notices are important tools for creative
professionals seeking to guard against unlicensed use of their work.
Today it is easier than ever to use unlicensed music and images without permission
from whoever created the work. Publishing your work online—a legitimate way
for many artists to share their work— makes it easy for others to copy that
work and use it for their own purposes.
Often times the intent of the offending party is innocent enough and, as a creative
professional, you’re not interested in spending your time and resources seeking
monetary damages from everyone who uses your song in their YouTube video or posts
a picture of yours to their Facebook profile. You just want it to stop.
A Cease and Desist Letter lets others know that you are serious about your work,
about your copyright protection, and about your legal rights—without having
to go through the additional legal hoops of working with an attorney.
Related Forms
If you decide to allow someone to use your material, a
Copyright License Agreement lets you set the terms for that use.
A
Model Release Form is used to grant photographers full rights to their
own photos, without those subjects later laying claim to the images.