Before you respond

The letter is real and lawful — and it is almost never the six-figure exposure it leads with. The ceiling behind that number — roughly $110,000 for a willful satellite violation (47 U.S.C. §605) — is the most the statute allows, not a bill anyone has decided you owe. You have time to respond correctly: use it to verify and prepare, not to react — and not to ignore.

1. 1Classify the document first: letter, or lawsuit? Look for a court case number and a deadline to answer a court. Neither present → a pre-suit demand letter; this sheet applies. Either present (summons + complaint, waiver of service, or default papers) → you have been sued: stop here, retain counsel who defends signal-piracy cases NOW, and use the served-with-a-lawsuit page instead.
2. 2Don't make it worse this week. Do not call or email to explain or apologize — a helpful conversation can confirm the exact facts that raise the exposure. Do not fill out any questionnaire or sign anything yet. Do not volunteer facts. And do not ignore it either: silence is the path most likely to end in a filed suit and a default.
3. 3Preserve everything — delete nothing. The account and its billing history, records of the event and how it was shown, signage or promotion, point-of-sale and cover-charge records, related messages. Destroying records once a claim is anticipated is spoliation, and it can hurt you more than the underlying showing.
4. 4Verify the claim against your own facts. Right business, right event, right entity? Letters go out in volume — wrong addresses, former owners, and wrong events happen, and each is an issue to raise correctly, not a reason for silence. Then test the signal path with the signal-path decoder: satellite → §605, cable → §553, internet app → contested (but a copyright claim can still reach a stream).
5. 5Understand the real exposure before any number talk. §605: $1,000–$10,000 base per violation; up to +$100,000 only on a court's willfulness finding; innocent floor $250; fees mandatory. §553 (cable): $250–$10,000 aggregate, +$50,000 cap, innocent floor $100. The what-venues-actually-pay page assembles the verified federal default judgments: $3,600–$35,040 all-in — far below the ceiling the letter invokes.
6. 6Notify your insurer before you settle anything. Some general-liability or media coverages may respond. Settling first can forfeit coverage — tender the claim, then decide.
7. 7Decide your path — ideally with counsel. The honest option set: settle for a rational amount · challenge where the facts or signal path genuinely favor you · decline and let them decide whether to file. Bring in a lawyer who regularly handles §§553/605 defense before any substantive response, negotiation, or if you are named personally.

Why deliberate beats fast: the demand is anchored to a statutory ceiling most cases never reach, while the real risk is the avoidable one — a default entered because the letter went in a drawer. Verify first; respond on your timeline, in writing, with counsel where it counts.