U.S. District Court judge hears Channel 781 lawsuit against WCAC; no decision made

A hearing for the lawsuit on Thursday morning between plaintiff Channel 781 News and defendant Waltham Community Access Corporation concluded with no decision from the judge.

Both parties presented their arguments to Judge Patti B. Saris at U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. Saris will decide whether to make a ruling herself, call a summary judgment or set a jury trial. If she decides a summary judgment is appropriate, Saris can rule in favor of either party.

The inciting incident of the lawsuit occurred in September 2023, when WCAC reported three instances of copyright infringement to YouTube regarding clips filmed by WCAC of public city meetings used in Channel 781 News videos. YouTube operates on a “three-strikes- and-you’re-out” policy, so the Channel 781 News YouTube channel was removed from the platform. As a result, Channel 781 lost access to its collection of 216 videos and nearly 300 followers and was forced to make a new YouTube channel just days before Waltham’s mayoral primary. The original account was eventually restored, but the videos with infringement claims aren’t on the channel.

Channel 781 News sued WCAC, alleging that WCAC had no grounds to claim copyright infringement and that Channel 781 News’s use of the clips was covered under the fair use doctrine in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Channel 781 News is seeking monetary compensation for the damage caused by WCAC to its organization. WCAC filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit in Jan. 2025, which was ultimately struck down.

Jeffrey Pyle, legal counsel for WCAC, explained to the judge that the channel’s news director Chris Wangler had an “objective, good faith belief” that using clips from WCAC’s City Council meeting broadcast violated the fair use doctrine. According to Pyle, Wangler researched the doctrine online, exchanged emails with Channel 781 News members regarding the clips and watched a YouTube instructional video about it as well. Due to the length of the clips used as well as the fact that the clips were directly taken from the broadcast without alteration, Pyle said he and his client believe that it is illegal use.

Mitch Stoltz, director of IP legislation at the Electronic Frontier Foundation and legal counsel for Channel 781 News, argued that because the clips were from a public meeting and weren’t used for commercial gain, Channel 781 News had followed the fair use doctrine guidelines. When asked by Saris why the channel didn’t ask for permission to use the clips in the first place, Stoltz shared that Channel 781 News not only thought that using the clips was legal, but it also felt that WCAC saw it as a competitor and wouldn’t agree to the use.

The hearing follows nearly two years of legal proceedings during which mediation was unsuccessful. A written decision from Saris on the motion for a summary judgment is expected within the next six months.