News 12 New Jersey is threatening their former reporter, Alex Zdan, with legal action after he used some of his clips in a video that doesn’t mention his interest in seeking the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate.
Zdan, who has not made a final decision about entering the race, put a campaign-style video on his personal website earlier this month that includes clips of him questioning Gov. Phil Murphy, U.S. Senator Bob Menendez, and others. Some of the clips come from public video taken by the governor’s office during Murphy’s COVID-19 press conferences.
The move by the cable news network could be construed as an attempt to put their thumb on the scale in the New Jersey Senate race; for years, candidates have used News 12 clips in TV ads, some aired on News 12, without the threat of a lawsuit.
“This is truly sad to see but unfortunately not surprising. It’s another reason so many conservatives have lost faith in the press,” Zdan told the New Jersey Globe. “During my career as a journalist, I did my job honestly, without fear or favor. Anyone who thinks they can bully or intimidate me doesn’t know me at all.”
Patricia Wheeler, a vice president at News 12, told Zdan in a letter that the clips are owned by News 12.
“We demand that you cease and desist from any further infringement of News 12’s rights by immediately removing the News 12 Content and any other News 12-owned content from the referenced video and any other content exhibited by you on any platform,” Wheeler said in a letter to Zdan.
According to Janet Meagan, a News 12 spokesperson, Zdan used a large number of clips and didn’t follow the terms of his employment agreement.
Generally, local news clips have been considered “fair use” as long as they are appropriately attributed, something Zdan does.
“Even though your broadcasts are copyrighted, when you put them out there, as long as you’re given attribution, then that’s all that’s necessary. And since your logo is usually right there, what they’re putting out there giving you attribution,” Jeffrey Swartz, a constitutional law professor at Western Michigan University’s Cooley Law School, told an ABC affiliate in 2022. “Filing a lawsuit is a waste of everybody’s time.”
Wheeler did not respond to a call seeking comment.