Ann Arbor has a local daily newspaper that is supposed to be subscription-only. Because I get the Detroit Free Press, I decided not to subscribe to another local paper. However, for whatever reason, they decided to start delivering it, and now I don't want it (especially because I'm not there). So I called to stop delivery, I was told it would be stopped, and forgot all about it. Today (much to my horror), I learned that they're delivering it anyway. So I called again, and was given a total runaround about how "the carriers are independent contractors," and "we can't control them." Etc. Just infuriating.

While this paper is not supposed to be free, my guess is that sales are lagging, and they're trying to boost "circulation" by just dumping it anywhere they please.

While it's little more than a form of "legal" littering, I've been through this before and there is nothing harder to stop than a free newspaper.

However, I found some creative approaches here, and I especially liked this one from "ubugme":

I'm having my attorney (my wife) write a ceast and desist letter. If that doesn't work, I'll mail them a letter stating that by throwing their paper on my property, they agree to pay a $50 fee per issue. I'll send them a bill and sue them in small claims court if they refuse to pay.Re: How to stop free newspaper delivery?

If the cease and desist doesn't work, make sure you put in writing that you will be charging them a $50 per issue fee for disposal. If you don't do it in a second letter, that is certified through the USPS, it wont stick. Keep all records and take them with you when you have to go to court, and I assure you that you will.

Here's a more practical, hands-on approach from "redsonsuperdave":

I had this same problem with the Dothan Marketplace, a similar free newspaper. Repeated calls to the circulation department had no effect whatsoever, they specifically told me that they did not keep a list of who wanted their paper and who didn't.

(WTF? What do they DO in the circulation department then?)

The one solution that finally worked was to be standing outside edging my driveway when the driver came by and threw her litter into my yard. I sprinted down the street and caught her at the end of the block. I told her in no uncertain terms that I had no interest in receiving her paper and that from now on she needed to skip my house, and I had taken down her license plate number, so the next time I found a Dothan Marketplace in my yard, I would call the cops and report her for littering.

This hasn't worked perfectly, about once a month or so I'll get one, but it has cut them way down. I happen to know that my next-door neighbor hates these things too, because he's trying to sell his house and no longer lives in town, and it doesn't help his house sell when his yard is immaculate except for a pile of decaying newspapers making a big ugly dead patch on his lawn.

I guess freedom of the press has its privileges.