Question: What are Chilling Effects?

Answer: "Chilling Effects" refers to the deterrent effect of legal threats or posturing, largely cease and desist letters independent of litigation, on lawful conduct. The Chilling Effects clearinghouse will catalogue cease and desist notices and present analyses of their claims to help recipients resist the chilling of legitimate activities (as well as understand when their activities are unlawful). The project's core, this database of letters and FAQ-style analyses is supplemented by legal backgrounders, news items, and pointers to statutes and caselaw. Periodic "weather reports" will sum up the legal climate for online activity.

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Question: What is the Chilling Effects clearinghouse?

Answer: The project invites recipients and senders of cease and desist notices to send them to a central point (here, at chillingeffects.org) for analysis, and to browse the website for background information and explanation of the laws they are charged with violating or enforcing. Clinical law students will prepare issue-spotting analyses of the letters in the question-and-answer style of FAQs, which we will post alongside the letters in an online database. The site aims to educate C&D recipients about their legal rights. Site visitors may search the database by subject area or keyword.

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Question: What if I need to contact an attorney?

Answer: This website is meant as an aid to help you decipher Cease and Desist notices so you can make informed decisions about your course of action. If, after reading this, you think the C&D you received might have some merit, or you think you might engage your opponent in battle even if the C&D is, in your opinion, baseless, consultation with an intellectual property attorney is always a good idea. You can find an intellectual property attorney at www.martindale.com or by calling your state or local Bar Association and asking for a referral.

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Question: Who is behind the Chilling Effects project?

Answer: The Chilling Effects Clearinghouse is a unique collaboration among law school clinics and the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Conceived and developed at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society by Berkman Fellow Wendy Seltzer, the project is now supported by the following clinical programs:
Berkman Center for Internet & Society
DePaul University College of Law
Electronic Frontier Foundation
George Washington University Law School
Samuelson Law, Technology and Public Policy Clinic
Santa Clara University School of Law High Tech Law Institute
Stanford Center for Internet & Society
University of Maine School of Law
USF Law School - IIP Justice Project

The information and reports on the chillingeffects.org website are written by law students, under the supervision of the participating organizations. Please see the About Us page for more information and contacts.

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Question: Does the First Amendment protect online speech?

Answer: The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution says that "Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press." Under the First Amendment and cases interpreting it, the federal government (and states, under the Fourteenth Amendment) must meet a high level of scrutiny before restricting any kind of speech. In the first Supreme Court case dealing with the Internet, Reno v. ACLU, the Supreme Court affirmed that online speech deserves as much protection as off-line speech.

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Question: Does this information apply in other countries too?

Answer: Chilling Effects is a United States organization and information on this website is based on U.S. law. Other countries' laws differ, often significantly, so you should not assume that the analyses presented here apply outside the United States. If you have further questions about non-U.S. law, we recommend contacting a lawyer in your jurisdiction.

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Question: What if the letter accuses me of something I'm not doing?

Answer: If the cease-and-desist misinterprets what your website is doing, for example claiming you're "reproducing" things you just link to, you can try to send a response that clarifies the facts -- especially if the factual difference is legally relevant. First, though, you may want to judge from the tone of the letter whether that's likely to resolve the matter, or instead just to draw more attention to you and make the requester angrier.

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Question: What does it mean if the cease-and-desist letter I got has a copyright notice?

Answer: Copyright can be claimed on any original expression, but some uses of copyrighted works, including use for commentary and criticism, are fair uses, not infringement. It is highly unlikely that someone could sue successfully for the posting of a cease-and-desist notice (most notices are minimally creative; the use is for purposes of commentary and research; the amount used is necessary to the understanding; and there is no effect on a "market" for cease-and-desist letters).

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Question: Is a cease-and-desist letter confidential?

Answer: There is ordinarily no expectation of privacy or confidentiality in a letter sent to an adversary. Unless you have made a specific promise of confidentiality beforehand, such as in a protective agreement or NDA, a letter demanding confidentiality doesn't bind you.

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