Use our copyright infringement cease and desist letter template to demand a violator to stop taking credit for your original work.
Updated September 20, 2023
Written by Ioana Gagiuc | Reviewed by Brooke Davis
A copyright infringement cease and desist letter is a document that demands a violating party that’s copying, stealing, or imitating your original work to provide proper credit or stop immediately. This notice threatens legal action unless the violator stops profiting from, claiming credit for, or using your original work without permission.
Copyright Lookup: Use the United States Copyright Office search tool to look up copyrights from 1978 to the present.
Laws: 17 U.S. Code Chapter 5 covers Copyright Infringement and Remedies, and 17 U.S. Code § 501(b) states that the person who owns the copyright must submit a written notice to the violating party before they can initiate a lawsuit.
Some benefits of using a copyright infringement cease and desist letter include:
No, a copyright infringement letter is not legally enforceable. The letter only warns you that you may take legal action unless the infringement stops. Ideally, the violator will stop before you take legal action, saving you time, money, and stress.
If your cease and desist letter is ignored, you can file an infringement lawsuit against the offending party. However, you must formally register your original work with the US Copyright Office to file the lawsuit. [1]
US copyright laws protect your original works. [2] As soon as the expression of an idea is written, the result is copyrighted, and the owner has the exclusive right to use and display this original copyrighted work.
Those exclusive rights include the following:
Registering your work creates a public record of the copyright, and anyone wishing to use all (or a portion) of this copyrighted work must first get your permission as the owner.
Suppose your website is covered by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), and a third party posts your copyrighted material. In that case, you may have to send a takedown notice to your registered DMCA agent.
Follow these steps to send your cease and desist copyright infringement letter successfully:
Before you start writing your letter, you must prove that you have the right to the copyrighted material. Use the United States Copyright Office search tool to find your copyright.
Once you’ve checked that the material being infringed is copyrighted, you need to collect evidence of when, where, and how the copyright infringement occurred. For example, you can take screenshots or gather URLs if the material is being used online.
For URLs, use a tool such as the Internet Archive (“Wayback Machine”), which captures the URL at the moment so the website owner can’t remove the material and say they never used it.
Write your letter, ensuring you include the following elements:
Also, include a date by which you expect a response.
Send your notice via certified mail with a return receipt, which ensures you will be notified when the receiver delivers, accepts, and signs the letter. This process can also help your case in court, as you can show that you attempted to notify the violating party.
Suppose the copyright infringement is severe, and simply stopping the copyright infringement isn’t enough. In that case, you should meet with your legal counsel and prepare to take the case to court.
Here’s a sample of our copyright infringement cease and desist letter. Download the template as a PDF or Word file below:
