By AUBREY HAWKE
Waltham Times Contributing Writer
A federal judge recently struck down a motion to dismiss in the court case between Waltham news organizations Channel 781 and Waltham Community Access Corp. (WCAC).
This came just weeks after the judge, Patti B. Saris, had asked the two sides to work toward a settlement agreement.
Saris denied WCAC’s motion to dismiss after the two parties reported that they could not reach a settlement agreement.
The federal court case is set to move ahead.
Channel 781, a group of citizen journalists who provide free video news content on a YouTube channel, was founded in 2021. Channel 781 makes regular videos debriefing and discussing Waltham news, particularly government meetings.
WCAC is a nonprofit news organization founded in 1985. WCAC has two active channels, both of which are free to the public on its website and via cable TV.
“WCAC-TV is the Community Access station that provides programming geared towards the interests of local residents, businesses, and organizations. MAC-TV is the Government Access station that provides coverage of municipal meetings, events and special government-related programming. As well, Waltham Community Access Corporation produces a weekly news program, The Waltham Newswatch, focused on Waltham-centric news reporting,” its website explains.
The lawsuit
The lawsuit centers around Channel 781’s use of WCAC clips of government meetings.
WCAC asserts that Channel 781’s use of such clips violates its copyright protections. These copyright claims led to YouTube disabling the Channel 781 channel on Sep. 7, 2023, just five days before a Waltham preliminary local election, which included a contested mayoral race.
Channel 781 in July 2024 filed a federal lawsuit against WCAC, alleging “that WCAC misrepresented copyright claims under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) as part of WCAC’s effort to limit public access to videos of government meetings,” according to law firm Brown Rudnick, which is representing Channel 781.
According to Brown Rudnick, “The lawsuit argues that WCAC, the operator of two local cable television channels in Waltham, acted in bad faith when WCAC sent the infringement notices to YouTube. The lawsuit alleges that WCAC knew, should have known, or failed to consider that broadcasting government meetings is a fair use of copyrighted material.”
Jeffrey Pyle, a lawyer representing WCAC, countered that in an interview with The Waltham Times, saying, “WCAC denies that it engaged in any misrepresentation. That is the allegation by Channel 781; it is our position that there was no misrepresentation here.”
Failed settlement attempt
At a December hearing, Saris asked both parties to try to reach a settlement.
“At the hearing Judge Saris indicated that she planned to deny the motion to dismiss, but she was holding off making it official to give the parties one more chance to work out a settlement. Our attorneys reached out to WCAC with a settlement offer, which they have rejected,” Josh Kastorf, who leads Channel 781, said in an email to The Waltham Times.
WCAC officials declined to comment on the case.
Saris denies motion to dismiss
After the failed settlement attempt, Saris denied WCAC’s motion to dismiss in a Jan. 6 ruling.
In her denial letter, Saris addressed Channel 781’s claims, saying: “These allegations support a reasonable inference that WCAC sent the takedown notices based on factors other than a good faith belief that Channel 781’s videos were not fair use and that WCAC knew it was doing so.”
Mitch Stoltz, who is part of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) that has taken on Channel 781’s case, wrote in an email to The Waltham Times: “We’re pleased that Judge Saris denied WCAC’s motion to dismiss and allowed the case to go ahead. We spoke with WCAC’s counsel about [a] settlement but didn’t reach an agreement at this time. We look forward to showing how WCAC’s abuse of copyright law to censor independent journalists in Waltham is harmful and needs to be stopped.”
EFF is a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting free speech online and often engages in litigation for this purpose.
“When this conflict began we’d hoped that WCAC would simply agree to change their policy. But now that it is moving toward a trial, we may have the opportunity to set a precedent that will also protect citizen journalists in many cities and towns. For our team Channel 781 has always been part of a broader effort to address issues of transparency and access to government in Waltham, and it’s very exciting to have an organization like EFF backing up that effort with their expertise and experience,” said Kastorf.
Now that WCAC’s motion to dismiss the case has been denied, the court will move into the discovery phase of the case. This will likely take several months, according to Pyle.
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