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Cable channel AMC has sent out a controversial cease and desist letter that asks a "Walking Dead" spoilers Facebook page to hold off releasing information that could reveal a key plot point from the next season of the hit zombie show.
The cliffhanger at the end of the most recent season points to the brutal murder (by a barb wire wrapped baseball bat called Lucille) of a main character on the show, and fans will have to wait for the season 7 premier to find out who has been killed.
But Facebook group The Spoiling Dead Fans (TSDF) has apparently received information, information that they had planned to post on their page, that reveals who Lucille kills. The Facebook group uses aerial photos and public sightings of actors in shooting locations to deduce spoilers, including the likely victim of Lucille.
Unfortunately for The Spoiling Dead Fans, AMC caught wind of the potential leak and promptly sent a cease and desist letter, forcing TSDF to cancel plans to post the information.
AMC is citing copyright infringement grounds for their demand, specifically, "The release of plot summaries and particularly the types of crucial plot elements that you have stated you intend to release, have been found to constitute copyright infringement," wrote Dennis Wilson, who is representing AMC in the matter.
TSDF are aware that AMC probably doesn't have much of a case if all have to go on is what they have set out in their demand letter, and if they truly believe that TSDF expressing an opinion on who gets killed at the start of season 7 constitutes copyright infringement. But TSDF is still complying with the demand because they simply can't afford to fight this in the courts, if it gets there.
"Whether there are grounds for it or not is not the issue, it still costs money to defend," read a statement published by TSDF.
Season 7 of The Walking Dead airs later this year.
The cliffhanger at the end of the most recent season points to the brutal murder (by a barb wire wrapped baseball bat called Lucille) of a main character on the show, and fans will have to wait for the season 7 premier to find out who has been killed.
But Facebook group The Spoiling Dead Fans (TSDF) has apparently received information, information that they had planned to post on their page, that reveals who Lucille kills. The Facebook group uses aerial photos and public sightings of actors in shooting locations to deduce spoilers, including the likely victim of Lucille.
Unfortunately for The Spoiling Dead Fans, AMC caught wind of the potential leak and promptly sent a cease and desist letter, forcing TSDF to cancel plans to post the information.
AMC is citing copyright infringement grounds for their demand, specifically, "The release of plot summaries and particularly the types of crucial plot elements that you have stated you intend to release, have been found to constitute copyright infringement," wrote Dennis Wilson, who is representing AMC in the matter.
TSDF are aware that AMC probably doesn't have much of a case if all have to go on is what they have set out in their demand letter, and if they truly believe that TSDF expressing an opinion on who gets killed at the start of season 7 constitutes copyright infringement. But TSDF is still complying with the demand because they simply can't afford to fight this in the courts, if it gets there.
"Whether there are grounds for it or not is not the issue, it still costs money to defend," read a statement published by TSDF.
Season 7 of The Walking Dead airs later this year.