Unwanted Fax Lawyers

Data is transferred across a phone line by fax machines. Text or image-based faxes are available. The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) was passed to forbid delivering unwanted advertisements to fax machines in 1991.

Junk faxes are what we refer to as advertising. Both commercial and home fax machines are subject to this law.

What Exactly is an Unwelcome Advertisement?

Unsolicited advertising is any content that promotes the commercial viability or caliber of any goods or services that is transmitted to a recipient without the recipient’s consent. Anyone may grant permission to transmit a fax advertisement starting on January 1, 2005, but only with a signed, written statement that includes the fax number to which such advertisements may be sent.

Prior to January 1, 2005, fax senders may continue to use “existing business relationships” as justification for sending such advertisements. Because your fax number is public or widely accessible, others do not have permission to send you unsolicited marketing.

Do Unsolicited Faxes Violate Any Laws?

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) governs the distribution of faxed advertisements. Norms are as follows:

• Without the recipient’s prior written consent, sending unsolicited advertisements through fax machines is illegal as of January 1, 2005.
• It is necessary to identify the company sending the fax on its behalf. This needs to be done on the first page, in the top or bottom margin. Along with the date and time of broadcast, it must also contain its phone number.
• Fax broadcasters, or those who send messages on someone else’s behalf, who has a “high degree of involvement” in the messages sent by the sender (by providing the facsimile numbers to which a message is sent), are required to include their own name on the fax.
• If a broadcaster gives a company that transmits illegal marketing facsimile numbers, that company could be held accountable.

The faxing guidelines also apply to faxes transmitted to fax servers and personal computers.

Your unwanted faxes could be valuable. Due to federal law, any individual or company that sends you faxes promoting goods or services you did not request is responsible for paying you a fine for the unauthorized use of your fax number. Families who get junk faxes—such as those advertising travel agencies or stock buyback solicitations—can use the faxes as proof in a claim against the sender.

The Federal Telephone Consumer & Protection Act and the Junk Fax Prevention Act of 2005 are the laws that grant consumers this authority. These laws enable people to sue businesses and recover damages for each junk fax they receive. The initial charge for each fax is $500, but if someone can demonstrate knowledge and intent on the sender’s side, that amount jumps threefold to $1,500 for each fax.

Junk Fax Laws

Millions of unwanted faxes are sent to people daily, and the regulations are intended to stop that. Advertisers who pay a fee for access to the database of fax numbers that fax broadcasters build can then use it. Because of this immoral use of personal data, the government has granted customers the ability to bring individual lawsuits against businesses that break the law.

What Should I Do if I Get an Unwanted Fax?

If you’ve received an unsolicited fax, there are certain actions you can do, such as:

• The FCC has implemented enforcement measures on its own. This can entail fining and issuing citations for TCPA infractions. If any such events occur, you can get in touch with the FCC.
• Documentation, such as copies of the faxes you received, may need to be provided. Fill out the FCC’s online consumer complaint form at www.fcc.gov/cgb/complaints.html or contact the Consumer Center to make a complaint (1-888-CALL-FCC).
• Additionally, you can send a letter to the Federal Communications Commission at 445 12th Street, SW, Washington, DC 20554, which is part of the bureau for consumer and government affairs.

You might also contact local or state consumer protection offices, the state attorney general’s office, or other representatives from your state.

A court case against the offender is another option. In such a private lawsuit, you can either seek to recover the financial loss caused by the violation or be awarded damages for each one (up to $500 each).

What Purpose Does the FCC Serve?

The FCC’s following objectives will impact the communications and media sector:

• Encourage competition by ensuring that there is a thorough and reliable competitive framework for communications services. This will aid the country’s economy. A structure like this should encourage innovation and give customers a real selection of options. It is important to promote this pro-competitive framework both domestically and internationally.
• The deployment of broadband services both domestically and internationally should be tracked as regulatory policies that encourage competition, innovation, and investment in broadband services and facilities are established.
• Revise media regulations to encourage competition and diversity in the media industry in a comprehensive, legally viable manner while also easing the required transition to digital delivery methods.
• Assume a leadership role in assessing and enhancing the nation’s communications infrastructure, ensuring its swift restoration in the event of a disruption, and ensuring that crucial public health and safety personnel have access to efficient communications services in emergency situations.

Who Oversees the Media and Communications Sector?

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) governs the American media and communications sector. The Communications Act of 1934 created the FCC, whose job it is to oversee interstate and international radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable communications. The 50 states, the District of Columbia, and American possessions are all under the FCC’s purview.

What Does the Freedom of Information Act Consist Of?

To increase public access to Federal Government records, Congress passed the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in 1966. Since then, the FOIA legislation has been altered multiple times by Congress. The Electronic Freedom of Information Act Amendments of 1996 (E-FOIA) most recently increased the reach of the FOIA to include electronic records and mandated the establishment of “electronic reading rooms” to make records more accessible to the public.

In Response to a FOIA Request, What Kind of Information is Available?

You are permitted to seek copies of FCC documents in accordance with the FOIA and the FCC’s implementing rules unless the records contain information that is excluded from mandatory disclosure under the FOIA.

Information in the following categories is not subject to the Freedom of Information Act:

• Materials pertaining to national security or foreign policy that are classified
• Trade secrets and confidential, privileged, or acquired business or financial information
• Memoranda or communications between agencies that a party involved in a legal dispute with the agency would not have access to
• Personnel, medical, and similar records, the revelation of which would clearly amount to an unreasonable invasion of privacy
• Information gathered for legal purposes

How Do I Stop Businesses from Faxing Me?

If the fax you received has instructions for opting out of receiving more faxes, heed them. A free method of sending the opt-out request to the sender, such as a toll-free number, local phone number, website address, or email address, must be included in the opt-out information. These unsubscribe contact alternatives must be accessible every day of the week, without exception.

Make sure to include your fax machine’s phone number when you make an opt-out request.
Senders must comply with opt-out requests as soon as reasonably possible, but no later than 30 days.

If the sender does not additionally comply with the aforementioned conditions, the opt-out notice on a fax advertisement does not render the fax legal.

Do I Need an Attorney with Experience in These Issues?

You might be able to decide the best course of action with the aid of an attorney who has dealt with similar situations in the past. If the infractions are severe enough to need legal action, an entertainment attorney can decide whether you should file a complaint with the FCC or not.