1. All access producers shall adhere carefully to all applicable federal, state and local regulations concerning limits of public speech and television programming content.
  2. Advertising or material designed to promote the sale of commercial products or services is expressly prohibited. Political advertising or commercials produced by or on behalf of a legally qualified candidate for public office is similarly prohibited.
  3. Producers who want to create programs which are produced for commercial venture or profit shall be prohibited from using the access facilities.
  4. Underwriting of programming is allowed solely for programs produced by the staff of CATS. Attribution is limited to a graphic stating the name of the individual or company. The use of logos, slides, phone numbers or video clips of business locations are strictly prohibited. Reference to FCC regulation 76.221 sections A & E.
  5. No program shall be transmitted over the community access channels which contains any material which would subject the producer or the supplier thereof to prosecution under any applicable local, state or federal law for the production or presentation of obscene material, libel, slander, invasion of privacy or copyright or trademark infringement. Neither CATS nor the Library will attempt to make a determination as to the constitutional legality of any content presented for telecast. A cable operator may refuse to transmit any public access program that the operator reasonably believes contains obscenity. (47 C.F.R. (76.702). (Determinations of obscenity, libel, slander, etc., are legal questions which can be determined only after due process by a judge and/or jury).
  6. No program shall be transmitted over the community access channels which contains a lottery or information promoting any device, scheme, plan, promotion, contest or other program and/or presentation which involves directly or indirectly the elements of a prize, chance and/or consideration of money or a thing of value. Reference Section 76.213 of the rules of the FCC.
  7. The producer of an access program agrees to indemnify and hold the Library and CATS harmless from all liability for damages, costs and losses resulting from, arising out of, or in any way connected with the use of the cable channels and/or video streams by the producer, its officers, agents, or employees.
  8. CATS reserves the right to refuse facility use to anyone reasonably suspected of being under the influence of alcohol or any disabling drug and therefore not legally responsible for his or her own actions. CATS also reserves the right to refuse facility use to anyone who is disruptive, rude with staff or customers, abuses the equipment or fails to return equipment on time. Any use which is disruptive to Library customers, CATS customers, Library operations or CATS operations may be refused or revoked.
  9. CATS will revoke the access privileges of any individual or group misrepresenting themselves as under the employ of CATS, the Library or any other community channel designation under the control of the Library.
  10. The Library, CATS, and cable operators shall not be liable for any loss of transmission time or transmission of programming due to equipment failure or for any other reason beyond the control of the parties.
  11. Any person, group or organization who abuses or has abused the privilege of access by violating any of the provisions of this part may be denied use of the access facilities. Violations of access policy will result in revocation of access privileges for a period of time to be determined by the CATS General Manager in conjunction with Library administration.
  12. Because revocation of access privileges is such a significant loss of the right to free speech, any decision by CATS and the library administration may be appealed by writing the Library Board of Trustees for review. Their decision will be final.
  13. The Library reserves the right to interpret any and all guidelines in accordance with existing Library policies and procedures. The Library also reserves the right to suspend any and all guidelines for Library programming.
  14. In the event that CATS or the Library incurs any attorney fees or court costs in pursuing any of the remedies available to them, they shall be entitled to recover the same from the producer or any other party liable as a result of the use of the Library facilities, channels or staff.

Approved by the Library Board of Trustees July 17, 2019