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Best Buy Hands Out Cease & Desist Letters for Christmas

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Wed Dec 12, 2007 03:54 PM
from the no-press-like-bad-press dept.
Censorship Businesses
arrenlex writes "Improv Everywhere, a NY-based comedy group, was served a Cease & Desist notice by Best Buy for selling 'improv everywhere' shirts modeled after the blue Best Buy uniform. But that's not the interesting part. From the blog post: 'Here's where the story gets interesting. Today, Best Buy sent a C&D to our friend Scott Beale over at laughingsquid.com threatening legal action unless he removes the blog post referencing our shirts! They're threatening to sue someone for just covering the news story of the shirts!'"
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Submission: Best Buy threatens to sue for blog about uniforms. by arrenlex (994824)
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  • Are they going to go after the T.V. Show "Chuck" ? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by tmroyster (309750) on Wednesday December 12 2007, @03:58PM (#21676271)
    Buy More is such a rip of Best Buy.

  • Fuck Them (Score:5, Insightful)

    by MistaE (776169) on Wednesday December 12 2007, @03:58PM (#21676273) Homepage
    No court in a million years would honor a C&D sent to a news site covering a news story in good faith. This is what Fair Use is all about, regardless of which Intellectual Property we're talking about.

    In fact, this is the kind of shit I want to see taken to court in the hopes that a judge will give punitive damages to the company that abused the C&D.

    • Re:Fuck Them (Score:5, Funny)

      by Anne_Nonymous (313852) on Wednesday December 12 2007, @04:02PM (#21676331) Homepage Journal
      >> punitive damages to the company

      Yeah! I hope the lose their shirts.

      • Re:Fuck Them (Score:5, Informative)

        by JPriest (547211) on Thursday December 13 2007, @12:44AM (#21680489) Homepage
        Laughingsquid posted an update [laughingsquid.com]. Best Buy Apologized for the C&D.


        It isn't like BB sent it in error though, here is a quote from Laughingsquid's original C&D post:

        "One thing I wanted to mention is that before posting this C & D letter, I called the Best Buy attorney who sent it to confirm that they really meant to send it to a blogger who was just reporting on another blog post. They insisted that I was "promoting, not reporting" and that the demand letter was valid."

    • Re:Fuck Them (Score:5, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 12 2007, @04:03PM (#21676343)

      In fact, this is the kind of shit I want to see taken to court in the hopes that a judge will give punitive damages to the company that abused the C&D.
      Who knows? It might be that Best Buy will send a C&D to Slashdot for covering the website that was covering the shirt. Or even worse, they'll send it for the dupe!

    • Re:Fuck Them (Score:5, Informative)

      by Apple Acolyte (517892) on Wednesday December 12 2007, @04:05PM (#21676383)
      Courts don't honor C&D letters. C&Ds are sent to meet the requirement of giving notice to a party before filing suit against said party. You may be thinking of an injunction.

      • Re:Fuck Them (Score:5, Interesting)

        by Spazmania (174582) on Wednesday December 12 2007, @06:16PM (#21677927) Homepage
        Courts do indeed "honor" cease and desist letters. As you point out, they do it by entering an injunction against the recipient upon the request of the sender. And as the OP pointed out, no US court would find fault or enter an injunction in the described circumstances, at least not if the defendant bothered to show up.

        Letting tech folks like ourselves get tied up in the legal process details can lead to errors in judgment. We think, "Technically I did X, not Y so I'm not really guilty." Baloney. Put it in front of a judge and the response is generally, "Your actions speak for themselves. Stop wasting my time."

          • Re:Fuck Them (Score:5, Interesting)

            by Spazmania (174582) on Wednesday December 12 2007, @11:15PM (#21680053) Homepage
            As the operator of whitehouse.net, I'm intimately familiar with parody and fair use.

            The video and pcictures of their prank? Wonderful. Easily defended as parody. The special edition set with included best-buy shirt? Yeah, that probably gets a pass. Call it gray-zone. The shirt as a standalone, context optional? Sorry, that's pretty obvious infringement.

            Not that I'd call Best Buy's lawyers smart given the Streisand Effect, but legally I'd have to side with Best Buy's position.

    • Best Buy apologizes to laughingsquid.com (Score:5, Informative)

      by Bananatree3 (872975) on Wednesday December 12 2007, @04:34PM (#21676843)
      looks like Best Buy has apologized to Laughing squid for this [laughingsquid.com]

      They are still militant against the blue shirts, though. (rolls eyes)

      • Re:Fuck Them (Score:4, Insightful)

        by fahrbot-bot (874524) on Wednesday December 12 2007, @04:16PM (#21676559)
        I believe the constitution is quite clear on the whole 'freedom of the press' type thing

        Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; ...
        The First Amendment has nothing to do with individuals or corporations abridging the freedom of the press, just the Government.

        • Re:Fuck Them (Score:5, Informative)

          by networkBoy (774728) on Wednesday December 12 2007, @04:21PM (#21676653) Homepage Journal
          We've had this argument before:

          You host can censor you. While possibly unfair, that is not a breach of the first amendment.
          Someone can pay you to remove content. Assuming you consent to the "bribe" that is not a breach of the first amendment.
          Someone can *not* sue you for speech, as that uses the courts(a branch of the government) to silence you, and that is prohibited by the first amendment.
          -nB

          • Re:Fuck Them (Score:5, Informative)

            by jonadab (583620) <jonadab@brightOPENBSD.net minus bsd> on Wednesday December 12 2007, @05:45PM (#21677691) Homepage Journal
            > Someone can *not* sue you for speech, as that uses the courts (a branch
            > of the government) to silence you, and that is prohibited by the first amendment.

            This is incorrect. Someone *can* sue you for speech, or try to at any rate. Whether they'll get anywhere depends on various stuff. For instance, if they can make a coherent argument that your speech might be considered libelous, they'll probably be able to successfully drag you through the courts, and if they can make a _convincing_ argument that your speech _is_ libelous, they can potentially win the case. Libel is not the only kind of speech that they can successfully sue you for, either. Copyright and trademark violations are another example. Fraud is another (and one you can even be prosecuted for criminally, though generally you only will be if you cost the victims something tangible).

            When the first amendment says "speech" and "press", it is, in context, clearly talking chiefly about political expression, not absolutely anything that anyone could ever say or write.

        • Re:Fuck Them (Score:5, Insightful)

          by tommertron (640180) on Wednesday December 12 2007, @04:25PM (#21676715) Homepage Journal
          Yes, but that means that corporations can't go to court to get someone to stop staying something they don't like, because the court is a part of the government, and that would mean the government is abridging someone's free speech. Best Buy is entirely within its rights to kick you off its own property for criticizing them or pretty much saying anything they don't like, but they're not allowed to go knocking on your door and telling you not to say something. Well, I guess they're allowed to, but you don't have to obey them by law.

      • Re:Fuck Them (Score:5, Funny)

        by Stanislav_J (947290) on Wednesday December 12 2007, @04:27PM (#21676733)

        I believe the constitution is quite clear on the whole 'freedom of the press' type thing.

        The Constitution? Is that thing still around?

  • What is Best Buy thinking? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by log1385 (1199377) on Wednesday December 12 2007, @04:00PM (#21676291)
    Honestly, what does Best Buy have to lose if they let someone print shirts that look like their shirts? All they're going to get is bad publicity by asking these guys to C&D. Even worse, they're trying to keep the story off of the internet, which is impossible, as evidenced by the fact that it is here on /.

    • Re:What is Best Buy thinking? (Score:5, Funny)

      by creimer (824291) on Wednesday December 12 2007, @04:08PM (#21676447) Homepage
      They don't want someone wearing the shirt to enter the store to pretend to be an employee. The customer might think they're getting excellent customer service from an imposter.

      • Re:What is Best Buy thinking? (Score:4, Funny)

        by GwaihirBW (1155487) on Wednesday December 12 2007, @04:23PM (#21676687)
        Heh. So true.

        However, you don't need the shirt to pull that off . . . I get asked if I'm a manager (or people assume that and launch straight into asking a store question) at virtually every large store in which I shop. I have on several occasions now had *employees* assume I was a manager. It's kinda amusing when the aisle you're in turns into a helpdesk . . . (I do tell people "actually, no, I don't work here" but then do my best to answer their question, as I often can)

      • Re:What is Best Buy thinking? (Score:5, Insightful)

        by fm6 (162816) on Wednesday December 12 2007, @08:14PM (#21678873) Homepage Journal

        Sending scary letters to quash news of this is reprehensible. Still, a trademark that is not actively enforced can be lost.
        They weren't trying to quash news. They were just doing the usual hyperactive bit in response to somebody using their trademark. People who send out these C&D letters don't have any incentive to take the extra effort to figure out whether something is a genuine violation or something that's protected as satire, news, or "not potentially confusing". Indeed, if they overlook somebody they might well lose their job. So they just fire off letters to everybody. Then if the recipient claims an exemption (as laugingsquid did) they fire off another letter apologizing. Since both letters are form/boilerplate, the total cost is a few bucks for certified mail. It's on a par with call centers and other such methods for communicating with people on a pseudo-personal basis. It scales up, and when you're in a high-volume low-margin business, you need things that scale up.

  • Slashdot is next (Score:3, Funny)

    by webmaster404 (1148909) on Wednesday December 12 2007, @04:00PM (#21676305)
    So, if this trend continues, \. will get a C&D order for the "broken windows" icon for MS related stories.

  • What about Chuck? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by PingXao (153057) on Wednesday December 12 2007, @04:01PM (#21676323)
    The American TV show, "Chuck", features a young guy who works at "Buy More", which is clearly a ripoff of BB. I don't watch the show but my girlfriend had it on one night and called my attention to "Buy More" and asked if it reminded me of someplace. Change BB's color blue to green and voila! Buy More.

    But that's OK for them to do that on national TV and get away with it on a weekly and ongoing basis. The reason is probably that the people who run and work at BB are infinitely more incompetent than the people who work at the fictional Buy More.

  • Why not? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Linux_ho (205887) on Wednesday December 12 2007, @04:02PM (#21676333) Homepage
    Best Buy long ago alienated all customers who watch the news and refuse to shop at businesses which regularly practice sleazy business tactics. I doubt this bad PR will affect their business at all. Nobody who cares about stuff like this has shopped at Best Buy for years.
  • How can companies run like this? IN my mind I see this as a big waste of effort and money on Best Buy's part. This wasted money would have to translate into Best Buy's bottom line, and thus affect we, the consumers as higher overall prices.

    I've worked in the corporate world long enough to know that departments and other corporate entities show amazing survival instincts - but the legal departments of these mammoth companies are certainly the most predatory. Really, they must drum-up this kind of litigation.

    I wonder if there was even any kind of financial-impact analysis or at least some kind of brand image analysis presented to the board prior to sending these notices. I would guess that the legal department simply sends them out under the "it's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission" assumption.

  • Are you sure.. (Score:5, Funny)

    by rambag (961763) on Wednesday December 12 2007, @04:05PM (#21676379)
    that the C&D came from a Best Buy lawyer or just someone in Besy Buy lawyer's clothing?

  • This looks like MY big chance... (Score:5, Funny)

    by zappepcs (820751) on Wednesday December 12 2007, @04:11PM (#21676493) Journal
    I have not done a lot of things yet in life, and receiving a C&D letter is one of them. What do /.-ers think is my 'best' chance of getting one from BestBuy?

    1 - YouTube channel?
    2 - BestChance.com website?
    3 - changing my middle name to bestbuy?
    4 - suing bestbuy for discrimination, on the basis that I didn't get a C&D leter?
    5 - Setting up a store in SecondLife called BestBye? Giving away uniforms for other SL stores?
    6 - Call the secret whitehouse telephone line, claiming to be the bestbuy ceo?
    7 - Getting GreenPeach to name a whale 'best buy'
    8 - Setup a reddit account under the name bEsTbUy, and only submit stories on best buy?
    9 - Number nine left out because the writers are on strike
    10 - buy 300 hours of blimp advertising, with sign that looks like the best buy sign, but done in crayon and written upside down?

    What does /. think?

  • back story (Score:5, Interesting)

    by circletimessquare (444983) <.circletimessquare. .at. .gmail.com.> on Wednesday December 12 2007, @04:16PM (#21676565) Homepage
    http://www.improveverywhere.com/2006/04/23/best-buy/ [improveverywhere.com]

    so they went to the chelsea best buy, hundreds of them, in blue shirts, and pretended to be assistants throughout the store, perhaps more helpful than actual staff in some cases

    customers were amused and bemused, management went apeshit, the best part is the the black chick who goes "it's like that movie, 'the thomas crown affair'"!

    but seriously: this is all a case of people with too much time on their hands: the best buy "actors" in the original "event", AND the lawyers suing them

    and isn't there some sort of legal protection for comedy, jokes, mockery? the law that protects political cartoons for example. would they have a case with that? obviously IANAL, as i can't even remember the legal term for this sort of "mockery" that is protected

    • Re:back story (Score:5, Funny)

      by fm6 (162816) on Wednesday December 12 2007, @04:48PM (#21677049) Homepage Journal

      but seriously: this is all a case of people with too much time on their hands: the best buy "actors" in the original "event", AND the lawyers suing them
      Dude, litigators charge (a lot) by the hour. For them, there's no such thing as "too much time".

      As for the event people: hey it's art. Maybe not to your taste, but no more a waste of time than, say, sports.

      • Re:back story (Score:5, Insightful)

        by Speare (84249) on Wednesday December 12 2007, @05:47PM (#21677713) Homepage
        They did NOT pretend to be employees. When asked, they were simply guests, they were shopping, they were waiting for their girlfriend who is in another department, etc. They didn't try to help anyone, nor try to hinder anyone. The shirts used were just plain blue polo shirts with no special embroidery or logos. They simply arrived in the same colors as if by coincidence. Yes, they knew it would cause confusion. Sometimes confusion is just a part of joie de vivre.

  • Why they happen. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Sneftel (15416) on Wednesday December 12 2007, @04:18PM (#21676607)
    Costs vs. Benefits of sending a doubtfully valid cease and desist notice:

    Costs:
    * Postage.
    * Paralegal staffing costs (assume 15 minutes to prepare the boilerplate).
    * Small chance some guys on Slashdot get grumpy for a while, until the next time there's a sale on DVD-Rs (whereupon all is forgiven, transactionally speaking).

    Benefits:
    * Decent chance the guy stops doing whatever it is you feel like stopping him from doing.

    It's not even a close call. A C&D is a warning shot, an initial skirmish. It doesn't commit them to anything legally, and the public image repercussions are vanishingly low.

      • Re: vanishingly low? (Score:5, Funny)

        by icepick72 (834363) on Wednesday December 12 2007, @04:39PM (#21676927)
        So you told us you haven't bought much stuff at Best Buy in the past although you visited the store more, and now you are refusing to buy anything in the future. Yep that'll hurt 'em. Hit them where it counts ... in the guy-wanders-around-store-alot-but-now-we-don't-see-him-anymore department!

  • Best Buy apologies for sending C & D letter (Score:5, Informative)

    by laughingsquid (871087) on Wednesday December 12 2007, @04:31PM (#21676791) Homepage
    Best Buy just sent us an apology letter for sending us a C & D letter just because we blogged about the Improv Everywhere shirts: http://laughingsquid.com/best-buy-apologies-for-sending-cease-desist-letter/ [laughingsquid.com] Here's the original C & D letter: http://laughingsquid.com/best-buy-cease-desist-letter/ [laughingsquid.com]

  • Best Buy has already apologized... (Score:5, Informative)

    by 1729 (581437) on Wednesday December 12 2007, @04:32PM (#21676811)
    I hate to defend Best Buy, but they've already admitted their mistake and apologized for the C&D letter sent to laughingsquid.com:

    http://laughingsquid.com/best-buy-apologies-for-sending-cease-desist-letter/ [laughingsquid.com]

  • DMCA (Score:5, Informative)

    by lunenburg (37393) on Wednesday December 12 2007, @04:50PM (#21677083) Homepage
    I'm the sysadmin for improveverywhere's server (currently curled in the corner in the fetal position, sucking its thumb and begging for its mommy), and we got a DMCA takedown notice, in addition to the C&D improveverywhere got.

    #####

    Subject: Digital Millennium Copyright Act

    Dear Sir or Madam:

    I represent [OUR ISP]. Attached to this e-mail, or set out below, is a notice [OUR ISP] received alleging that material on your website infringes a copyright. This notice was sent to [OUR ISP] under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). A good summary of the DMCA can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DMCA#DMCA_Title_II:_Online_Copyright_Infringement_Liability_Limitation_Act

    The DMCA has three steps. The notice [OUR ISP] received is the first step.

    This notice triggers automatic removal or take down provisions under the DMCA. What this means is that the material identified in the DMCA notice must be removed by you, or taken down by [OUR ISP]. This must be done before you can dispute the claims set out in the notice. [OUR ISP] understands that this "guilty until proven innocent" aspect of the DMCA can be unfair, but its required by law.

    If you believe the DMCA notice contains errors, you should immediately contact the person who sent the notice. Please let me know by e-mail if they agree to withdraw the notice. I will then contact them to verify the withdrawal.

    After you remove the material, you may present [OUR ISP] with a "counter notice." This is the second step.

    The elements of the counter notice are identified below, and in more detail in the wikipedia entry. Please make sure you fully understand the DMCA before presenting [OUR ISP] with a DMCA counter notice. It may be helpful for you to consult with your attorney. Unfortunately [OUR ISP] can not provide you with legal advice on this matter.

    It is important that you take action immediately. Please let me know, within 5 days of the date of this e-mail that you have taken down the material. If I do not hear from you within this period of time, the DMCA requires [OUR ISP] to take down the material.

    On behalf of the staff at [OUR ISP] I thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.

    Sincerely,
    [THEIR LAWYER]

  • My BB Blue Shirt Experience. (Score:5, Funny)

    by mr_resident (222932) on Wednesday December 12 2007, @04:57PM (#21677177)
    A couple of years ago, I ducked into my local BB completely unaware that I was dressed very much like all the people who work there. I had the khakis and a (Penguin logo) blue shirt, same shade as their official "uniforms". As I'm walking by the laptop display, this harried looking soccer mom stops me and starts asking me a bunch of questions about the laptops in that "Hurry up young man, I've got to pick up my kids in 20 minutes" way. Completely not understanding her insistance, I told her I couldn't help her. So, she says, "Well, if you can't be bothered, I'll just take my business elsewhere!" I replied something like, "Whatever makes you happy sweetheart." and went on with my shopping.

    About 2 mins later, I hear her shrill voice and look over. She's got the floor manager out and she's yelling at him about "That rude young man! That one! Right there!" Pointing at me! Okay, now I figured it out and started to walk over to explain while the manager is going, "Ma'am, he doesn't work here. He's a customer too."

    Now, I kind of feel bad about the next part, but I honestly couldn't help it. I saw his nametag had "Scott" on it, so as I walked up, ignoring the unconvinced customer, I said, "Hey Scott, sorry, but I've already punched out and I'm in a real hurry. See you in the morning! Bye!"

    The poor guy was still trying to talk her down as I was leaving!

    Scott, buddy, if you're out there - Sorry, but really, it was kind of funny, right?

      • "Poor mom?" (Score:4, Insightful)

        by Tony (765) on Wednesday December 12 2007, @07:15PM (#21678401) Homepage Journal
        Really?

        Just because you are harried and in a hurry does *not* give you the excuse to be rude, especially to some sap making damned close to minimum wage who's just there to help you. If she had been polite to start with, his response itself would've been rude. However, being rude in response to rudeness is perhaps the only valid response.

  • You can't always wear what you want.. (Score:5, Funny)

    by Fatal67 (244371) on Wednesday December 12 2007, @05:06PM (#21677293)
    I went down to the Chelsea boxstore
    To get my wii that was on sale..
    I was standing in line with a fake assistant,
    And man, he did the job pretty well.

    We decided that we should have a party,
    My favorite pastime, mocking newbs.
    My storys been posted up on /.
    My servers dead, guess we filled the tubes.. .

    You can't always wear what you want,
    You can't always wear what you want,
    You can't always wear what you want,
    But if you try sometimes you just might find
    A cease and desist, ...oh yes

  • They apologized. (Score:5, Informative)

    by sllim (95682) <{ten.knilhtrae} {ta} {ecnahca}> on Wednesday December 12 2007, @05:10PM (#21677331)
    http://www.laughingsquid.com/ [laughingsquid.com]

    Best Buy sent LS.com a letter by both email and next day delivery apologizing for sending the C&D to a news source.

    I am impressed.

    Check out http://www.laughingsquid.com/ [laughingsquid.com] front page for details.

  • C&D to Blog retracted before story hit /. (Score:4, Informative)

    by thehossman (198379) on Wednesday December 12 2007, @05:48PM (#21677719)
    While the C&D to Improv Everywhere and Neighborhoodies still stands (although the shirts seem like clear parody to me) If you actually look at laughingsquid.com you'll see that BestBuy apologized [laughingsquid.com] for sending them a C&D for reporting about the existence of the shirts as a matter of fact, and acknowledged they were in error.

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