What to Do When Getting a Cease and Desist Letter
Many domainers will face a cease and desist letter and some point in their career. I have faced one so far, and am not hoping to face anymore. Normally in a cease and desist letter, the lawyer will point out the act or law you have broken, and their demand with the date you must meet their demand by.
First let me start by saying don’t freak out. I’m not telling you to not sweat it, but as long as they give you a chance to settle, don’t worry too much. Normally, when a lawyer sends you a cease and desist letter, they’ll demand you transfer the domain their sending the letter for within a certain deadline, which is normally 1 week, 2 weeks if they’re generous.
I had a few interesting coversations about what to do in different situations. Lets say you get a cease and desist letter for a domain that you know you did something wrong with. My biggest suggestion is just giving them the domain. Your legal expenses and time are not worth fighting for a domain that you know you broke an act or law by having, or doing something with it. Some people say to offer them the domain for less then it would cost them to file a lawsuit, and explain to them their expenses. That’s just going to get them even angrier, and possibly to the point where they take away their settlement offer. I’m very confident they want to also teach you your lesson, and make sure you don’t do it again.
Now let me throw another scenerio at you. You get a cease and desist letter for a domain that you don’t think you did anything wrong with. Now what do you do? Do you give them the domain, or do you fight for it in court? My suggestion is that this is the point to consult with a lawyer in the field of intellectual property, or a field similar to that. You may think you know that the domain is not breaking any laws or acts, but trust me, the intellectual property lawyers know a lot more of you. So do not be cocky about your knowledge.
What would you do in these situations? Do you agree or disagree with me on my stances? Please comment below, I would love to hear what you have to say.
I disagree. Just like you will have legal expenses so will they. Offer the domain name below the legal fees. Most of the time it cost at least $2,500 just to file a lawsuit. Sell the name for half that price and everyone is a winner
Appreciate the comment Chef. My question back for you is don’t you think that A) that might make them mad and B) they don’t want you to do it again. I am pretty sure they aren’t only worried about themselves, but others as well. So they want you to learn your lesson, and if you aren’t giving up your negotiating, they might think you are going to commit the same crime in the future. Wouldn’t you guess they would prosecute you so you don’t do it again?
I’d have to disagree and agree with a few things you said. First off, most domainers will probably not received a C and D letter if they follow the rules. Now, I have received a C and D, so i’m not trying to be a hypocrite, but it was for something obviously illegal. Sometimes, companies like to sue for their domain, which is unfair if you did nothing wrong. But, that’s what services such as searching for TM’s in a domain name are for.
Basically, if you are following the law of the ACPA and other stuff, you should encounter no problems like discussed in the last article and this one. Good, white hat business should never encounter any C and D letter that can’t be resolved.
If you get a C and D letter from black hat business, just stop. Give them the domain, apologize, don’t do it. Black hat business is just bad. Never negotiate, just give in to demands. As Chef said above, legal fees are immense.
My dad once told me that when he was selling his business ,the buyers asked for his legal fees. He reported $250, just for lawyer shuffle paper-work. They were amazed at how low they were. Simply put, he always settled and never involved lawyers. That’s what I feel is the best way to do. Just settle. If you are wrong, give up. If you are not in a bad position, settle outside w/o lawyers. Writing up a contract is pretty simply if you keep emails and conversations.
Just imo
Good question/scenario:
I agree with the first paragraph, if you know you did wrong, then bite the bullet it’s not worth the headache, but then saying that there’s all sorts of people that have an askewed sensibility and will try..
The 2nd paragraph is interesting…I think it would depend on how big the brand/trademark is, I’ve seen where a large corp will spend 150 grand to get their 20 dollar domain back, it’s the principle to them.
Also if you’re unreasonable in your dealings with them, then you can bet they’re going to use whatever means necessary.
If you’re reasonable, then again depending on “who” the corp is, usually something can be worked out.
Agree with the cockiness attitude, many a person has lost a lot thinking they could milk a large corp.
Then again if negotiation doesn’t meet up with what you perceive it should be (e.g. they’ve got lot’s of money so they won’t miss a couple thousand), you could always park the page with advertisements of all kinds, including porn to make money while they fight you…and that yet opens up a whole new can of worms.