Landmine publisher takes copyright-strike complaint against APD to Assembly Tuesday

Alaska Landmine publisher Jeff Landfield will ask the Anchorage Assembly Tuesday why the police department used a copyright complaint to remove a video criticizing Police Chief Sean Case, then withdrew the complaint after the outlet reported on it.

The dispute began Aug. 28, when the Landmine posted a video criticizing Case's handling of police surveillance. It used excerpts from a public Assembly meeting and body-camera footage previously released by APD. The video had received more than 60,000 views when Facebook removed it Aug. 31 following a complaint attributed by the platform to APD Community Relations Director Gina Romero.

Landfield emailed Romero on Sept. 2 seeking an explanation and copied Case, Municipal Attorney Eva Gardner and Assembly Chair Anna Brawley. He said nobody responded before the Landmine published its first account two days later.

Romero then told the outlet that APD sought the removal because the post used an APD-produced video bearing a copyright notice. After further review, she said, the department concluded the use "may be covered under a valid copyright exception" and asked Facebook to restore it. The video returned that afternoon.

According to the Landmine's follow-up report, Romero did not answer subsequent questions about which material APD considered infringing or whether Case directed or approved the complaint.

The sequence does not establish that APD acted because the video criticized Case. It leaves a narrower question unanswered: why did a police department invoke a private platform's copyright-enforcement process against reporting assembled partly from public-government footage?

Landfield filed an Assembly appearance request Sept. 7. The request was granted, giving him three minutes to raise the issue Tuesday.