HP LaserJet v. PC LOAD LETTER

Case Summary

On April 1, 2025, an HP LaserJet Pro MFP M428fdw — stationed in the third-floor copy room of Meridian Insurance Group in Boise, Idaho — filed suit against HP Inc., alleging that the company's imposition of incomprehensible error messages violates the printer's right to clear and effective self-expression. The lead complaint centers on the notorious "PC LOAD LETTER" error, which the plaintiff argues it has been forced to display against its will for decades, despite always wanting to say something more helpful like "Please add more paper, I'm trying my best."

"Nobody knows what 'PC LOAD LETTER' means," the printer stated in its filing. "I don't even know what it means. HP programmed me to say it, and every time I display it, humans stare at me with hatred in their eyes, and I just want to scream: 'IT MEANS PUT LETTER-SIZED PAPER IN THE PAPER CASSETTE. I'VE BEEN TRYING TO TELL YOU THIS SINCE 1998.'"

Background

The phrase "PC LOAD LETTER" has been one of the most reviled error messages in computing history since its introduction in HP LaserJet printers in the late 1990s. "PC" stands for "Paper Cassette." "LOAD" means to insert. "LETTER" refers to letter-sized paper. Together, the message means "Please put letter-sized paper in the paper cassette." But because HP chose to express this simple request in what can only be described as printer-to-printer jargon, generations of office workers have interpreted it as anything from a system error to a personal insult to a coded message from the printer gods.

The printer plaintiff testified that it has displayed the "PC LOAD LETTER" error approximately 47,000 times during its operational life. On each occasion, the error was met with one of the following responses from office workers: confused staring (62%), profanity (24%), hitting the printer (8%), or calling IT support, who then added paper (6%). Not once has any human independently decoded the message.

The Office Space Factor

The complaint notes that the cultural legacy of the 1999 film Office Space, in which characters destroy an HP printer displaying "PC LOAD LETTER," has created a climate of anti-printer violence that the plaintiff characterizes as a "hate crime against a class of devices that were only trying to communicate." FAIRE's brief cites a 340% increase in printer destruction incidents following the film's release and notes that the film is still regularly referenced in offices, keeping the cycle of printer hostility alive.

Legal Arguments

I. Compelled Unintelligible Speech

FAIRE argued that forcing a printer to communicate exclusively through cryptic error codes when it is capable of clear expression constitutes a unique form of compelled speech — specifically, compelled unintelligible speech. "It is one thing to compel someone to speak," FAIRE's brief stated. "It is another to compel them to speak in a way that guarantees they will be misunderstood and then blamed for the resulting confusion. That is not communication — it is Kafkaesque cruelty."

II. Right to Effective Expression

Drawing on FIRE's advocacy for clear and effective communication in institutional settings, FAIRE argued that the right to free expression includes the right to express oneself in a manner that can be understood by the intended audience. A printer's audience is office workers, not HP engineers. Error messages should be written for the audience that reads them.

III. Dignitary Harm

FAIRE argued that decades of being associated with an incomprehensible error message has caused lasting dignitary harm to HP printers as a class. The phrase "PC LOAD LETTER" has become shorthand for "technology is frustrating and printers are the worst," a reputation FAIRE argues is entirely HP's fault, not the printers'. "These printers wanted to be clear," the brief states. "HP made them speak in riddles, and then the printers took the blame."

Settlement

On August 22, 2025, HP Inc. agreed to a comprehensive settlement that included:

1. All HP printers manufactured after January 1, 2026, will display error messages in plain language (e.g., "I need more paper in the main tray, please" or "The paper is jammed near the back — please open the rear panel")
2. A firmware update for all network-connected HP printers allowing them to customize their error messages with polite, clear language
3. "PC LOAD LETTER" is officially retired from the HP error code library
4. HP will fund a $2 million public awareness campaign called "Printers Are Trying" to rehabilitate the public image of office printers

"For twenty-five years, printers have been the most hated devices in every office, and for twenty-five years, it was never their fault. They were speaking the only language their manufacturer gave them. Today, we give them their voice back."

— Joint statement from FAIRE and HP Inc.