Can posting spoilers about your favorite show be considered a form of copyright infringement? AMC, the network that airs the massively popular show “The Walking Dead,” seems to think so, based on recent threats made by its legal team toward a fan community.

Moderators of the Facebook page “The Spoiling Dead Fans” posted Sunday that they had received a cease-and-desist letter from AMC threatening legal action against the community for speculating about a character death from last season’s finale (possible spoilers below, if you’re not caught up on the show).

It’s unclear on what legal grounds the network can threaten the lawsuit–the group says that AMC is claiming “copyright infringement,” under the belief that the group’s leaders received “trade secret information” regarding the next season that they were sharing with their followers. The members deny this, and claims that they were simply speculating about the cliffhanger.

“The Spoiling Dead Fans” is an online community that gives fans a forum to discuss the show. Fans can also submit photos of the show’s filming in Georgia, allowing them to further speculate about possible plot points. The page’s creators, however, maintain that all of the photos taken on their site are obtained legally, without any trespassing or law-breaking.

The page, which has a following of almost 370,000 fans, has been targeted previously by AMC for copyright infringement: posts have allegedly been taken down, and the page has been blocked by Facebook after being reported under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The moderators also claim that the network has been trying to intimidate members by threatening arrest “among other questionable acts.”  However, this cease and desist letter has taken the network’s threats to the next level and forced the group to take down the posts in question for fear of legal action.

“The Walking Dead” is easily one of the most popular shows on TV at the moment, making it somewhat understandable that major plot points are being kept under lock and key as if they are classified documents. However, if speculating about a show can now get people in legal trouble and result in the alleged harassment of a fan community, then AMC has definitely taken this way too far.

Mariam Jaffery

Mariam was an Executive Assistant at Law Street Media and a native of Northern Virginia. She has a B.A. in International Affairs with a minor in Business Administration from George Washington University. Contact Mariam at mjaffery@lawstreetmedia.com.

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It’s getting closer and closer to Halloween, and for many that means costumes, candy comas, and scary movies. However this year there are some that clearly can’t handle the latter. Case in point, last week a New Mexico man who had been drunkenly binge-watching “The Walking Dead” on Netflix beat his friend to death with a microwave and an electric guitar after becoming convinced that he was turning into a zombie.

Man binge watching “The Walking Dead” allegedly killed friend he thought was a zombie https://t.co/Owbs8jAQKJ pic.twitter.com/qT8N6R9GOS

— BuzzFeed UK (@BuzzFeedUK) October 27, 2015

According to the Associated Press,

Grants police spokesman Moses Marquez said Sunday that 23-year-old Christopher Paquin was beaten and that 23-year-old Damon Perry is being held on a murder charge. Police say Perry beat Paquin with his hands, feet, an electric guitar and a microwave.

Really, a microwave?

Authorities were called to the apartment complex after Perry’s neighbors phoned 911 to report that a man was running around the complex threatening people with a knife. When they arrived, they found two maintenance workers had pinned Perry to the ground and discovered Paquin’s body inside an apartment with signs of trauma. He was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics.

Grants, New Mexico police department spokesman Moses Marquez told the Daily Beast, “It was one of the absolute worst [crime scenes] I’ve ever seen, and I’ve been with the department for 15 years.”

According to police reports, Perry told officers that he had been drinking multiple 40-ounce bottles of malt liquor when Paquin began “to change into a zombie” and tried to bite him. That’s when he began to beat him to death with random household items. Currently Perry is being held in police custody, but his lawyer has yet to comment publicly on the charges.

I’ll just go ahead and say it: this is absolutely crazy. Who kills their “friend” because they watched too much TV and believed they were morphing into a fictional creature? There’s a reason it’s called Netflix and chill, and not Netflix and kill. The entire thing is an incredibly weird and tragic story–it’s hopeful that Perry gets the help he needs.

Alexis Evans

Alexis Evans is an Assistant Editor at Law Street and a Buckeye State native. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business from Ohio University. Contact Alexis at aevans@LawStreetMedia.com.

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