The rules and regulations set forth below have been adopted to assure compliance with current federal, state and municipal laws and regulations governing the availability and use of Community Access Television Services (CATS) at Monroe County Public Library. The policies and regulations set forth herein supersede any and all others previously issued:

  1. The Library operates CATS as a service to the community and in fulfillment of Library goals. Any resident of Monroe County may use the facilities of CATS. All rules and regulations outlined below apply equally to all access channels unless specifically stated otherwise.
  2. The Library and CATS will allow great latitude with respect to freedom of speech. However, all programming shall be non-commercial and consistent with legal constraints and community standards. No part of any program shall contain: any solicitation for funds or other property of value, or obscene or defamatory material.
  3. The community access channels are operated by the Library as a dedicated constitutional forum. Programs are not rejected because either they or their spokespersons are controversial. CATS does not attempt to verify the accuracy or lack of bias in the programming it carries, nor does CATS attempt to achieve a balance in regards to any issue, faith, or ideology. The producer of each program is exercising her/his first amendment right to free speech and is solely responsible for the program's content. Reference to Section 611 (E) and Section 639 of the Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984 & 1992.
  4. The producer of an access program is the person who signs the application for use of the access facilities as outlined below. The producer of each access program is solely responsible for its content. The producer must obtain all talent releases, copyright authorizations, and other necessary licenses or approvals. By signing the application, the producer accepts all responsibility and any associated liability for the content of the program. Programs without a signed release will not be telecast.
  5. Upon the filing of an appropriate request, the community access equipment and public access channel will be available to any Monroe County resident, group, or organization. Programming produced outside of Monroe County will require a written request from a local resident or organization for telecast on CATS. All requests are reviewed on a first-come, first-served, non-discriminatory basis. All access use is subject to the availability of time, staff, and facilities.
  6. Any organization or individual may sponsor candidate forums, providing written notification of all candidates thirty days prior to the forum. Any appearances by political candidates in other CATS programming are acceptable providing they are not advocating their candidacy nor criticizing the opposing candidate or party. (The Communications Act of 1934, specifically the "equal time ruling", does not apply to access television). Given the submission of a program proposal and sufficient notice, providing staffing and equipment availability, CATS will provide coverage of local Primary and General Election candidate forums. To ensure all candidates have been registered, CATS will only provide this coverage for candidate forums after the deadline for candidate registration, within the same year as the primary or general election. 
  7. Use of the access facilities: studio, equipment, personnel, and other technical resources must be for the sole purpose and/or intent of producing programming for CATS.
  8. Use of the access facilities must be requested through the program proposal form provided by CATS. A signed proposal must be on file prior to scheduling use of the facilities.
  9. Applications on behalf of a minor must be signed by a parent or a legally appointed adult guardian who will accept responsibility for any liability resulting from the use of the facilities by the minor.
  10. All programming produced by CATS staff except government meetings which are in the public domain) remains the sole copyright of CATS. Content produced by members of the public and submitted to CATS for telecast on the public channel remains the sole copyright of the individual program producer. All intellectual property, responsibility for music licensing, permissions and liability for that content exists solely with the producer of that program. 

Approved by the Library Board of Trustees July 17, 2019