Lynk Media sues Sinclair over a Palm Beach airport ground stop video it says ran in a National Desk story

The complaint

Lynk Media LLC v. Sinclair, Inc., No. 1:26-cv-04476 (D. Md.), was filed October 26, 2026 and is assigned to Judge Stephanie A. Gallagher. The complaint is signed by Craig Sanders of Sanders Law Group in Uniondale, New York. It pleads jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. 1331 and 1338(a) and venue under 28 U.S.C. 1400(a) and 1391(b), and Lynk Media demands a jury.

The parties and the video

The complaint describes Lynk Media as a New York media licensing company that acquires and licenses newsworthy video recorded by eyewitnesses and independent creators. It says a journalist recorded the video aboard a Delta Air Lines flight at Palm Beach International Airport as the crew announced a ground stop caused by a drone near Air Force One, and first posted it on X on March 29, 2026. It says the video was registered April 13, 2026, Registration No. PA 2-596-256, and that Lynk Media acquired the copyright, together with all accrued causes of action, by written transfer agreement. The Copyright Office record shows an effective date of registration of April 13, 2026 and a first publication date of March 29, 2026, the date on which the complaint says the alleged infringement began. The complaint pleads that because the video was registered within three months after first publication, statutory damages and attorney's fees are available under 17 U.S.C. 412 even though the alleged infringement began before the effective date of registration.

The defendants are Sinclair, Inc., Sinclair Broadcast Group, LLC, formerly Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc., Sinclair Television Group, Inc., and KEYE Licensee, LLC, which the complaint alleges, on information and belief, is the FCC licensee of record for KEYE-TV in Austin, Texas, which does business as CBS Austin. It alleges they operate as a single, integrated media enterprise from Hunt Valley, Maryland, and produce The National Desk, which it says is broadcast on more than 80 local stations they own or operate.

What it alleges

The complaint alleges that on March 29, 2026 the defendants published a National Desk story on cbsaustin.com with the video embedded so that it plays within the page, and, on information and belief, published the same story on thenationaldesk.com and other station websites. It says Lynk Media's counsel sent a cease-and-desist notice on or about August 7, 2026 and a follow-up on or about September 7, 2026, and that the story remained publicly displayed on cbsaustin.com as of October 14, 2026. It alleges willfulness, pointing to the defendants' business as content creators and licensors, their own copyright terms and copyright complaint procedures, the use within hours of the video's publication, the continued display after notice, and Nicklen v. Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc., 551 F. Supp. 3d 188 (S.D.N.Y. 2021).

Count One pleads direct infringement under 17 U.S.C. 501 against all defendants. Counts Two and Three, pleaded in the alternative under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(d)(2), allege vicarious and contributory infringement against Sinclair, Inc., Sinclair Broadcast Group and Sinclair Television Group.

Relief sought

Lynk Media asks for a finding of willful infringement; an award, jointly and severally, of actual damages and profits under 17 U.S.C. 504(b) or, at its election, statutory damages under 504(c), including enhanced damages for willfulness under 504(c)(2); an injunction under 17 U.S.C. 502(a) against any infringing use of any of its works, directing removal of the infringing content from any website or platform the defendants control; costs and attorney's fees under 17 U.S.C. 505; and interest.