---
title: "Preservation letter to a publisher"
url: "https://ailawframework.com/precedents/defamation-and-media-law/us-publication-preservation-letter"
type: "precedent"
site: "AI Law Framework"
id: "a33-us-publication-preservation-letter"
area_id: "A33"
kind: "letter"
ai_level: "yellow"
version: 1
task_ids: ["A33-A20260923-1", "A33-T1-R6"]
law_stated_as_at: "2026-10-22"
---

# Preservation letter to a publisher

> A request that a publisher or host keep the publication, drafts, and logs. It is notice that a claim is contemplated. It is not a subpoena and it does not decide that the recipient already owes a preservation duty.

Canonical page: https://ailawframework.com/precedents/defamation-and-media-law/us-publication-preservation-letter  
Law stated as at: 2026-10-22

Site index for agents: https://ailawframework.com/llms.txt

## Key facts

- Kind: Letter. A letter or email you adapt and send.
- Practice area: [Defamation & Media Law](https://ailawframework.com/precedents/defamation-and-media-law.md)
- Jurisdictions: United States
- AI level: Yellow. You and the tool draft together, with you directing. You check every statement you rely on.
- Law stated as at: 2026-10-22
- Status: Maintained. Checked on 2026-10-22 against the 2 authorities it cites, for United States.

## When to use it

Use when a specific publication is in issue and suit about it is contemplated. Send it to the publisher the lawyer identifies. Do not use it as the retraction demand. That is a separate letter.

## Used for these tasks

- [Capture the publication with URL, time, audience and copies](https://ailawframework.com/practice/defamation-and-media-law/capture-the-publication-with-url-time-audience-and-copies.md)
- [Calculate limitation and first-publication dates from the capture](https://ailawframework.com/practice/defamation-and-media-law/calculate-limitation-and-first-publication-dates-from-the-capture.md)

## How AI may be used

AI may address the letter and list the URL and the systems the lawyer names. The lawyer decides whether suit is contemplated and who the publisher is.

**AI may:**

- Insert the URL, the date, and the capture the lawyer has saved
- List logs and drafts only if the lawyer asks for them
- Flag a sentence that accuses the recipient of having already destroyed evidence

**AI must not:**

- Must not assert that the recipient is in breach of a preservation duty
- Must not call the letter a subpoena or a court order
- Must not send the letter

**The lawyer checks:**

- The publication is identified tightly enough that the recipient can find it
- The letter is not combined with a damages threat
- A copy of the capture is kept in the file

## Authorities

- [Fed. R. Civ. P. 37(e) and the 2015 advisory committee note (foreseeability, reasonable steps, no new duty)](https://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/frcp/rule_37)
- [Cal. Civ. Code § 48a(a) (the correction demand must specify the statements; preservation supports that specification)](https://law.justia.com/codes/california/code-civ/division-1/part-2/section-48a/)

## Full text and drafting notes

The full text and the drafting notes are not part of this public page. Signed-in firm accounts can read them at https://ailawframework.com/precedents/defamation-and-media-law/us-publication-preservation-letter and through the signed-in MCP connector https://ailawframework.com/mcp/firm.

*Practice guidance for planning and review. Confirm current primary sources and the requirements of the actual matter. This is general information, not legal advice.*