I ran across some YouTube video that is a recording of a court webcam that has a "do not record" mention. This made me wonder: is that legally binding? I.e., is the YouTuber allowed to record and share the recording of that court webcam? I'm mostly interested in the United States.
(Screenshot from https://youtu.be/7hr9xn1_1_w)
Recording court proceedings is generally prohibited no matter whether an annotation is displayed on a video feed of the proceeding. For example, see s. 136 of the Ontario Courts of Justice Act.
These sorts of prohibitions apply whether in the courtroom, attending remotely, or observing from a publicly broadcast1 stream.
So, it's not the words on the broadcast that would be legally binding. The words on any broadcast would just reflect a pre-existing legal prohibition.
1. I'm using the word "broadcast" as used by the courts to describe this activity. This is not necessarily the same sense of "broadcast" used in broadcasting or telecommunications law.
Not Legal Advice
Exactly whether it's legal or not within the United States likely depends on laws that vary state-to-state, however, it is also probable that knowingly and willingly breaking such a restriction could be counted as Contempt of Court if the Judge is so inclined. In the specific instance you highlighted in your screenshot, the Judge themselves streams sessions live on YouTube which is likely where the recording has originated from. I would say it is unlikely the Judge would act in this particular instance.
Judge YT: https://youtube.com/@justicewithjudgefleischer/streams
