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Cease and Desist Letters for Defamation formally request that the Letter’s recipient removes a publication containing what the sender considers to be defamatory content. A Cease and Desist Letter for Defamation is often sufficient to stop the recipient from using the defamatory content and, if not, provides evidence of the sender’s attempts to resolve the situation should such be needed in court.
For use in England and Wales only.
Use this Cease and Desist Letter for Defamation:
if you run a business (whether as an individual or sole trader, a company, or a partnership)
when an individual or a business has made false and allegedly defamatory statements about your business on their website, in an article, or in internet posts
when you have suffered or are likely to suffer serious harm because of these statements
to tell the recipient to stop publishing such statements
when your business is in England or Wales only
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Dear,
Re: Your
We are writing in relation to
While we are relying on, our complaint relates to the following in particular:
The alleges that:
(the Allegation).
This Allegation is false and we have proof that the contains serious, untrue and what we believe to be defamatory comments towards our business.
In publishing the, the statements are being communicated to others, posing a serious threat to our reputation. These statements seem designed to damage our reputation in the marketplace and divert business away from us, rather than have any fair comment basis.
The publication of the has further caused and/or is likely to cause us serious harm. In particular:
We believe the to be defamatory. We, therefore, require that you:
remove the to prevent harm to our business.
undertake not to publish the again, or otherwise to re-publish the Allegation.
produce an apology and a declaration that the Allegation referred to are false and defamatory;
publish, with equivalent prominence to the, a suitable apology (such apology to be approved by us prior to publication).
We expect your acknowledgement of this letter and your response to our requests by . Failure to respond by this date will result in us seeking further legal remedies.
Yours,
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This Cease and Desist Letter for Defamation template covers:
where the allegedly defamatory statement was published (ie in an article, in internet posts, or on a website)
why the statement is allegedly defamatory
how the allegedly defamatory statement caused (or is likely to cause) serious harm to the sender or their business
a request that the recipient cease posting the statements
a threat of further legal action
A carefully written Cease and Desist Letter for Defamation is a very powerful tool for fighting false and allegedly defamatory statements that have been made about a business.
A Cease and Desist Letter for Defamation is an efficient warning that offers the recipient the option to solve the problem out of court. Further, if the Letter is not successful in stopping the publication of the defamatory material, it can provide evidence of the sender’s following proper processes and attempting to resolve the issue before resorting to starting legal proceedings.
Defamation is when something that is untrue is written or said about somebody (ie the sender of the Letter) and this lowers the person subject to the statement in the estimation of 'right-thinking' members of society. This generally has one or more of the following effects:
it disparages them in their business, trade, office, or profession
it exposes them to hatred, ridicule, or contempt
it causes them to be shunned or avoided
The Defamation Act 2013 also requires that, to be considered defamation, a statement must cause (or be likely to cause) serious harm to the party that the statement was made about (eg a loss of profits).
For more information, read Defamation.
Whether serious harm has been caused or is likely to be caused will depend on the specific circumstances of the statement and will be determined by reference to the actual impact of the allegedly defamatory statement.
In determining whether serious harm has been caused (or is likely to be caused), consider:
the severity of the statement(s) and allegation(s)
the size of the publication’s readership
any specifics of your situation that suggest serious harm or the likelihood of such harm (eg if you’ve experienced an immediate loss of clients)
For serious harm (or the likelihood of such harm) to be considered to have been caused to the reputation of a business, the relevant content must cause (or be likely to cause) serious financial loss. Appropriate methods of proving serious financial loss (or the likelihood of such loss) depend on the specific situation, but may include anything from loss of clients to online reviews and social media posts.
In certain extreme circumstances, serious reputational harm and/or financial loss may be so obvious that actual evidence is not required. For example, following the publication in national media of allegations of terrorism.
For more information, read Defamation.
Dealing with business reviews can be challenging, especially if they are not positive. Generally, a review that is both truthful and an honest opinion is permissible and the subject of the review is unlikely to have a course of action against the author. In some cases, the business’ providing a response addressing the issues set out in the review can be an opportunity to show good customer service practices.
However, when reviews are not based on facts, you may be able to take action against them. Provided previous attempts to remove such written reviews have failed (eg via polite but informal discussions), you may consider using this Cease and Desist Letter for Defamation to request the removal of a review if the review is untrue and may constitute defamation.
The recipient of a Cease and Desist Letter for Defamation should stop any allegedly defamatory behaviour and should undertake a variety of actions, including:
removing the relevant content to prevent harm (or further harm) to the business that is its subject
undertaking not to publish the content again
producing and publishing an apology and a declaration that the content was defamatory
This Cease and Desist Letter for Defamation informs the recipient that, if they do not comply with its requests (eg those above), the sender may pursue legal action (eg by starting a case in the courts).
Providing the recipient with a deadline for stopping the use of the allegedly defamatory material gives your Letter more impact and compels the recipient to act quickly. The deadline you set should be reasonable, for example, you could allow the recipient 7 or 14 days to respond.
You should include a sample of the content you believe to be defamatory with your Letter. This should be attached to Schedule 1 of the Letter. For example:
if the Letter relates to an article, a copy of the article should be included
if the Letter relates to internet posts or statements published on the recipient’s website, samples of the allegedly defamatory content should be included (eg screenshots of the internet posts or information taken from the recipient’s website)
Any evidence provided in Schedule 1 should be clear enough to read and should be relevant.
Making your Cease and Desist Letter for Defamation online is simple. Just answer a few questions and Rocket Lawyer will build your document for you. When you have all of the information prepared in advance, creating your document is a quick and easy process.
You’ll need the following information:
The sender and the recipient
What is the sender of the Letter’s name, address, and legal structure?
Who is the sender’s signatory, if it’s a company or a partnership? This is the person who will sign the Letter on the company’s or partnership’s behalf.
What is the recipient of the Letter’s name, address, and legal structure?
Who is the recipient’s signatory, if it’s a company or a partnership?
Publication
Has the potentially defamatory content been published in an article, in internet posts, or on the recipient’s website?
If the content was published in an article:
What is the article’s name?
Was the article published online or in print? If online, what is its URL?
On which date was the article published?
If the content was posted on the recipient’s website:
What is the website’s name and URL?
The content
Which specific pieces of text within the content do you consider to be defamatory?
Why do you consider the content to be defamatory?
How has the content caused (or why is it likely to cause) harm to the sender?
The Letter
What is the date of this Letter (ie the date on which it will be sent)?
By which date do you request that the recipient responds to the Letter?
Cease and Desist Letters for Defamation set out the sender’s request that the recipient ceases defamatory activity. To do this, this Cease and Desist Letter for Defamation template includes the following terms and sections:
The parties and addresses
The Letter has a traditional letter structure, addressed from the sender (ie the individual or business who is alleging defamation) to the recipient (ie the party who has published the allegedly defamatory content). The Letter starts by setting out the names and addresses of both parties and the date of the Letter.
We are writing in relation to…
The Letter’s content begins by identifying its subject: the internet posts, article, or website in or on which the recipient has published allegedly defamatory material. The relevant content is identified, in part by reference to the sample of it contained in Schedule 1.
While we are relying on…
This section explains that the sender’s allegation of defamation relies on the relevant content as a whole (eg the whole article or various online posts). It also highlights the key bits of text to which the claim relates and sets out the allegations that the sender considers the content to be making about them.
These allegations are false…
The Letter progresses to clearly state that the allegations set out above are false and that the sender considers them serious and defamatory. It explains that they are posing a threat to the sender’s reputation and appear to be designed to do this in order to divert business from the sender. It highlights that the sender doesn’t consider the content to have been made as a fair comment (ie as a statement of opinion that has an identifiable factual basis and which an honest person could hold in response to those facts), meaning that the sender does not believe that the recipient can rely on the fair comment defence that may be used in defamation claims.
The publication of the posts/article/website has further caused and/or is likely to cause us serious harm…
Next, the Letter sets out the sender’s assertion that the content has caused them harm and sets out what that harm is.
We believe the posts/article/website to be defamatory…
Here the Letter states the key assertion of defamation and then sets out the things the sender is requesting that the recipient do to remedy the situation. These include:
removing the content from where it’s posted
promising not to publish the content or the allegations contained in it again
producing an apology and a declaration that the allegations are false, which should be approved by the sender and then published with equal prominence to the original content’s posting
providing information about the content’s readership or about the location of online posts
We expect your acknowledgement of this Letter…
This section requests a response to the Letter from the recipient by a specified date and sets out the sender’s intention to take the next steps towards legal action if no response is received.
Yours sincerely/faithfully…
The Letter ends with space for the sender to sign and date it.
Schedule 1
This schedule provides a space into which a sample of the relevant content should be inserted.
If you want your Cease and Desist Letter for Defamation to include further or more detailed provisions, you can edit your document. However, if you do this, you may want a lawyer to review the document for you (or to make the changes for you) to make sure that your modified Cease and Desist Letter for Defamation complies with all relevant laws and meets your specific needs. Use Rocket Lawyer’s Ask a lawyer service for assistance.
Consider seeking help if you decide to take your defamation matter further
Defamation can be a complicated area of law, especially once a dispute passes the stage of a Cease and Desist Letter. If you’re the sender of a Letter and you don’t receive an adequate response, and you want to take the matter to court, make sure you follow all necessary processes and understand the ways in which your allegations may be rebutted. This should give you a better chance of success. The best way to navigate the process can be with assistance, for example, by hiring a solicitor.
Note that the situation in Scotland is different
In Scotland, defamation is governed by the Defamation and Malicious Publication (Scotland) Act 2021. This is a different Act to the Defamation Act 2013, which governs defamation in England and Wales and contains different laws. For example, in Scotland (unlike in England and Wales) there is no distinction between slander (ie making a defamatory statement in non-permanent forms, like in speech) and libel (ie making a defamatory statement in a permanent form, like writing). For more information, read Defamation in Scotland.
As a result, this Cease and Desist Letter is not designed to be used if you are based in Scotland. Ask a lawyer if you need a cease and desist letter for Scotland.
Understand when to seek advice from a lawyer
In some circumstances, it’s good practice to Ask a lawyer for advice to ensure that you’re complying with the law and that you are well protected from risks. You should consider asking for advice if:
the recipient does not respond to this Letter
the allegedly defamatory statements were not published in an article, on the recipient’s website, or in internet posts
you are based in Scotland
