Copyright Infringement, Jehovah's Witnesses, and Legos
Free speech and the fair-use doctrine are used as a defense for the creator of a YouTube channel that features Lego stop-motion videos of a fictitious Jehovah's Witness town poking fun of the religion.
August 9, 2021
Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society is the supervising body and primary publisher formed by and for the Jehovah's Witnesses religious group. Since 2018, they have been attempting to obtain the identity of the person who is creating Lego stop-motion videos featuring a fictitious Jehovah's Witness town – DubTown – which pokes fun of the religion.
In 2018, Watch Tower's attorney filed a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) Subpoena requesting YouTube/Google identify the user known as "kevin McFree" based on claims of copyright infringement. Watch Tower is attempting to learn McFree's real name, address, telephone number, and other personal information.
McFree cites free speech and the fair-use defense.
"kevin McFree" is the presumed pseudonym to the content creator of the YouTube video series. According to the channel's description, "this channel is not intended for children, but rather seeks to provide some light-hearted humor for adults who finally see the high control group known as Jehovah's Witnesses for what they are!" He continues, "Content on this channel is primarily EX-JW Stop motion animation stories set in a fictional Jehovah's Witness town known as DubTown."
The specific video in the subpoena included excerpts of footage of then-unpublished and leaked Jehovah's Witness videos within the stop-motion animation. YouTube ultimately ended up removing the video, but McFree challenged the DMCA claiming fair use doctrine. The matter is still unresolved three years later, and Watch Tower has now filed an all-out copyright infringement lawsuit.
McFree acquired legal representation courtesy of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), who represented him Pro Bono, and sought to quash the DMCA subpoena. As of yet, the motion to quash is still pending after a Judge issued an order allowing McFree the opportunity to do so nearly two years later. Given that the motion to quash is still pending, YouTube is not releasing any information concerning McFree. Additionally, the Clerk of the Court will not issue a summons in the name of kevin McFree (because it's not his real name), insisting it will only issue a summons after the Defendant's real name is identified:
"Plaintiff believes it has strong grounds to request the Court allow service on Defendant via email and would like to file a motion therefor. However, even if the Court grants a motion to allow service via email because the Clerk will not issue a summons in the name of John Doe or in the fictitious name 'kevin McFree,' Plaintiff will have no summons to serve."
Watch Tower has attempted to seek advice from the Court on how to proceed; however, the Judge determined that it wasn't "her place" to issue guidance and denied the request for seeking a conference with all the parties involved.
In what typically takes days to resolve has taken more than three years and counting.
Watch Tower is no stranger to taking legal action against those alleged to have breached its intellectual property rights. Similarly, in 2020 Watch Tower attempted to gain the identity of a Reddit user, Darkspliver, by also filing a DMCA subpoena to the platform. In this case, a Judge granted a motion to quash the subpoena, and the identity of Darkspliver was never disclosed. Additionally, the ruling signaled that Reddit posts are protected by the First Amendment, no matter where the user is because Reddit is a US-based company with a U.S. audience.
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