Santiago v. Townsquare Media, Inc.
- Ronnie Abrams
- 1:24-cv-03851
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In Santiago v. Townsquare Media, Judge Abrams directed Townsquare to raise its requested discovery limits with Judge Stein; the court did not decide the request.
Santiago and Townsquare Media, Inc.; the order concerns discovery in Santiago’s copyright case.
What happened
Santiago v. Townsquare Media, Inc. is a copyright case involving a video that Townsquare embedded in an article on its website. Townsquare argued that the video’s posting on YouTube may have given Townsquare permission to embed it.
Townsquare asked to pause all discovery except for a narrow inquiry into whether Freedom News TV was authorized to post the video to YouTube. Townsquare said that question could resolve the copyright claim without further discovery.
Judge Abrams directed Townsquare to raise its request with Magistrate Judge Stein, who had been assigned general pretrial management. Judge Abrams did not grant or deny the requested discovery stay.
The detailed version
- Santiago v. Townsquare Media, Inc. · No. 1:24-cv-03851
- Ronnie Abrams
- Aug. 7, 2024
Background
The opinion text consists primarily of an August 2, 2024 letter from Townsquare Media, Inc., the defendant, requesting limits on discovery in Santiago’s copyright-infringement case. The request followed a July 26, 2024 pretrial conference. Townsquare asked the court to pause all discovery except for highly targeted discovery about whether Freedom News TV, which Townsquare also called FreedomNews.TV or “FNTV,” was authorized to post a video to YouTube.
According to the letter, Townsquare published an article about two Newark firefighters who died in a cargo-ship fire. The article embedded a link to a video allegedly authored by Santiago and posted to FNTV’s YouTube channel. Townsquare argued that FNTV likely had a license from Santiago and that YouTube’s terms of service gave users permission to access and use uploaded content through YouTube features, including video embeds.
Townsquare’s proposed legal theory
Townsquare said it intended to seek summary judgment, meaning a decision without a trial when no relevant factual dispute requires one. It argued that the screenshots of Santiago’s works were minimal and protected by fair use, and that the embedded video was authorized through a license arising from YouTube’s terms of service.
The letter identified one factual question as central to that theory: whether FNTV had Santiago’s authorization to post the video to YouTube. Townsquare argued that, if FNTV had that authorization, the resulting YouTube license and sublicense allowed Townsquare to embed the video. Townsquare therefore maintained that limited discovery on FNTV’s authorization could resolve Santiago’s claim and potentially the case.
Court’s action
Judge Abrams did not rule on whether discovery should be stayed, whether FNTV had authorization, whether the YouTube terms created an enforceable sublicense, or whether Townsquare was entitled to summary judgment. The order states that the matter had been referred by separate order to Magistrate Judge Stein for general pretrial management and directs Townsquare to raise its motion with Judge Stein.
Disposition
The text does not state that the discovery request was granted, denied, or granted in part and denied in part. It instead directs Townsquare to present the request to Magistrate Judge Stein.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.