Court asked to decide if a local public-access channel can enforce a copyright on its livestreams of city-council meetings against people who post snippets from them

A group of Waltham residents who use YouTube to post city news and analysis yesterday sued the local cable public-access channel for trying to block them from using segments of video from city-government meetings in their reports.

In their suit, filed in US District Court in Boston, Channel 781 is seeking a judicial declaration that they have the right, under the fair-use principal, to incorporate portions of meeting videos made by the Waltham Community Access Corp. in their own news and analysis videos.

Channel 781, which also posts interviews with local newsmakers, charges that WCAC - a non-profit funded by fees levied on local cable operators - filed demands with YouTube to take down some 15 Channel 781 reports that used portions of WCAC meeting videos because it is claiming copyrights on the original recordings, and that YouTube not only took down the specific Channel 781 videos but eventually its entire YouTube channel just before Waltham's preliminary elections last September.

The group says YouTube at first rejected its appeals, but then, after it set up a whole new channel, restored the original Channel 781 page and its contents on Nov. 9.

Channel 781's use of the Government Meeting Video Clips is a self-evidently non-infringing fair use pursuant to 17 U.S.C. § 107. Channel 781's use is noncommercial; it is intended for different and transformational purposes, including highlighting and informing the public about selected issues of public concern, and providing accessibility to individuals with hearing disabilities by including captions through the YouTube platform; the original videos are non-creative factual records of open government meetings; Channel 781 excerpted only those portions of the original videos necessary to fulfill its transformative purpose; and the use has no impact on any market or potential market for the original videos.

The complaint adds Channel 781 does not accept advertising and makes no money from its reports, quotes WCAC Executive Director Maria Sheehan, on WCAC's own weekly "Waltham Newswatch" show on April 6, 2023, which WCAC has since removed from its site:

Our station is a private nonprofit that does not receive taxpayer funding. Over recent years, photographs from our news department, and video from the MAC channel, have been reproduced without our permission. We know this is a reality of the world we live in, but we put copyright disclaimers on our media for a reason. Some have used our content to score political points under the veil of anonymity. Others have used it to encourage residents to hate. This practice can damage reputations and spread misinformation and we do not want to be a part of that. So as we head into a contentious election season, I'm asking the public to respect people who work hard to create our original content. In the interest of transparency, we will entertain requests to reuse our content for free, but misuse is wrong, and it is illegal. Moving forward, the Waltham Channel will take whatever legal steps necessary to protect our content.

Channel 781 says one of its members met with Sheehan after seeing that, but that she held her ground:

Mr. Kastorf explained to Ms. Sheehan that Channel 781's use of the Government Meeting Video Clips was a fair use under copyright law, and therefore lawful.

In their meeting and in subsequent emails, despite hearing Mr. Kastorf's explanation that the use of the Government Meeting Video Clips was fair use, Ms. Sheehan asserted that any use of the clips by Channel 781 required permission from WCAC, and that WCAC would send infringement notices to YouTube targeting such clips.

Ms. Sheehan also asserted that Channel 781's use of the Government Meeting Video Clips would be more acceptable to WCAC if Channel 781 used them only to report facts, but not to express opinions or further an agenda.

Then, the complaint alleges, WCAC began filing its take-down requests with YouTube, and Channel 781 began filing its own counter-requests.

The complaint seeks an order barring WCAC from continuing to go after Channel 781, along with damages and attorney's fees.

As a direct and proximate result of Defendant's actions, Plaintiff has been injured substantially and irreparably. Such injury includes, but is not limited to, time and expenses associated with responding to the claim of infringement; time and expenses associated with setting up a new YouTube channel; and harm to Plaintiff's rights of free speech and freedom of the press under the First Amendment.