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The Jackie and Shadow live stream is facing a common issue among content creators: fakes.
Backstory: Friends of Big Bear Valley, the nonprofit that operates the nest cam, started noticing fake social accounts a few years ago. But the knock-offs have exploded this year, after the eaglet hatchings.
Read on… for what options the nonprofit has to combat the fake accounts.
Imitation, it's often said, is the sincerest form of flattery.
But in the case of the internet's favorite bald eagles, Jackie and Shadow, that has meant an explosion of fake social media accounts that have nothing to do with the official Big Bear Valley nonprofit behind the nest cam on YouTube.
Sandy Steers, executive director of Friends of Big Bear Valley, said fans started noticing copycat accounts on Instagram and Facebook a few years ago.
But as eaglets have emerged and endured (or not, in the case of one unfortunate chick) snow and wind, the imitators’ presence has grown.
According to the nonprofit, some 2.5 million unique visitors checked out the official Friends of Big Bear Valley website in the last 30 days. Their Instagram, launched in late 2024, has more than 80,000 followers. As for the live YouTube nest cam — that's at 588,000 subscribers and counting.
"Just this year is when everything started multiplying like crazy," said Steers, adding that the group has been filing takedown requests with social platforms when they spot imitators. "We're still working on a lot more. It's like they're popping up faster than we can keep a handle on it at this point."
Steers said there are knockoff accounts selling merchandise for a profit — and in some cases falsely claiming that the proceeds will go to the Friends of Big Bear Valley. And in others, they’re making up stories about the bald eagle family to gin up more clicks.
The Big Bear nonprofit that has made the parenting saga of Jackie and Shadow a must-watch stream is experiencing something that many successful content producers have had to grapple with — how to protect their content from exploitation.
Kristina Mitri is the vice president of social media and email marketing at Studio 3, an agency specializing in internet marketing with offices in Los Angeles and other cities.
Mitri said fake accounts is commonplace in the social media space. One tip for creators is to watermark or put an official logo over their content to prevent exploitation.
And once a copycat is identified, to let their fans and followers know. Finally, Mitri says to consider seeking legal counsel for protection.
"Social is ever evolving," Mitri said. "There's a lot of unknowns and so it's important to realize that each case is unique and to set a precedent. It could help others in this space going forward."
Given all the time and resources spent on the issue of fake accounts, Steers said the group is indeed looking into their legal recourse.
"That's taking away from our funds, taking away from our time that we could be helping other people to understand the eagles," Steers said.
With the live nest cam, the case of infringement might be hard to make, according to copyright expert Justin Hughes.
Hughes, a law professor at Loyola Law School, said that there are two conditions for copyright laws.
First, it requires fixation — meaning a work claiming copyright protection needs to be in a permanent or a semi-permanent form. Think a photograph or a painting.
"The phrase we use is 'fixed in a tangible medium of expression,'" Hughes said. " So a livestream by itself by definition is not subject to copyright."
But that condition could be met if the livestream is recorded — even if the recording is not made available to the public.
Now onto the second condition: human creativity.
"Copyright protects what we call original expression," Hughes said, citing Supreme Court precedents, "that shows a modicum of creativity."
In the court of law, the live eagles cam would unlikely be considered a work of "human original expression."
"Nothing that happens in the frame, nothing the birds do...it's not original expression," he said.
One possible argument, Hughes said, could be made over the angle or placement of the camera — but not if it's random or arbitrary.
"That there are unscrupulous people taking their video feed doesn't surprise me, and it saddens me," Hughes said. But "copyright is not going to give them much help.
Eleanor Musick, an attorney in San Diego who specializes in intellectual property law and who is representing the nonprofit, offers a different conclusion based on the inner workings of the nest cam.
The livestream is indeed recorded, she said. In addition, the two cameras capturing footage are controlled by someone at all time, Musick said, "who chooses when to zoom, when to pan, when to incorporate sound from a microphone on a separate camera and when to activate infrared lighting."
Such actions, she said, fits the definition of "original" expression.
Despite the prevalence and popularity of this type of content, Musick said, it's uncharted territory where the nonprofit has found itself in.
"I am aware of no court decisions to date regarding the copyrightability of trail camera or surveillance camera videos," Musick said.
As Friends of Big Bear Valley navigates these new terrains, Steers reminds new and longtime fans to keep an eye out.
"Anything that they see, you know, if they can just make a point of seeing what really is from Friends of Big Bear Valley and what is authenticated by us," Steers said.
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The Original Saugus Cafe, L.A. County's oldest restaurant since 1886, was supposed to have closed Sunday, with lines around the block. But this week a sign on the door said it was reopening under new ownership. That was news to the Mercado family, who had previously run the business for nearly 30 years. It's turned into a legal dispute between the Mercado family and the owners of the property, who are laying claim to the name.
Why it matters: The dispute highlights the precarious position of small business owners who operate under informal agreements with their landlords. For nearly 30 years, the Mercado family ran the restaurant on a handshake deal with property owner Hank Arklin Sr. After he died, the Mercado family is facing losing not just their location, but potentially the business name and legacy they've built.
Why now: Hank Arklin Sr., a former California assemblyman with multiple properties, died in August at age 97. New management presented the Mercado family with written lease terms they found unfavorable, triggering negotiations to sell the business that ultimately fell apart.
Lines stretched around the block Sunday at the Original Saugus Cafe in Santa Clarita. It was supposed to be the restaurant's last day before closing after 139 years — making it the oldest continually operated restaurant in Los Angeles County.
But earlier this week, a sign was posted on the door saying, "Reopening under new ownership soon," although there were few details about who would be running it.
The sign was a surprise to the Mercado family, who have operated the restaurant for nearly 30 years. The family now is in a legal dispute with the Arklin family, who owns the property, about the potential re-opening and who owns the historic name.
Alfredo Mercado worked his way up from bartender to restaurateur, purchasing the business in 1998. Since then Mercado and his daughters have operated the restaurant, leasing from the Arklin family. For most of that time, according to the Mercado side, the two families maintained good terms. Property owner Hank Arklin Sr., a former state assemblyman who owned other properties in the area, kept a verbal month-to-month agreement with the Mercados — no written lease required.
That changed when Arklin died in August at age 97.
Larry Goodman, who manages multiple properties for the Arklin family's company, North Valley Construction, took over the landlord relationship. In September, the Mercado family say they were presented with a new written month-to-month lease.
Yecenia Ponce, Alfredo's daughter, said the new terms included various changes to the existing agreement, including a rent increase and charges for equipment.
Months of back and forth negotiations about different options, including selling the business, ultimately fell apart. Their attorney, Steffanie Stelnick, says they are being forced out, without proper legal notice, and has sent a cease-and-desist letter to Goodman saying the family has plans to continue running the business.
LAist reached out to Goodman for comment repeatedly Wednesday and Thursday by phone but did not hear back.
Goodman told The Signal, a Santa Clarita valley news outlet, that Alfredo Mercado had changed his mind several times in recent weeks about keeping the business.
“I said, ‘Fine,’ then I got out and got someone to take it over,” Goodman said.
He said he'd been in contact with Eduardo Reyna, the CEO of Dario's, a local Santa Clarita restaurant, and that the cafe could re-open as soon as Jan. 16.
The dispute also focuses on who owns the rights to the Original Saugus Cafe name.
Ponce said when her father purchased the restaurant in 1998, it was called The Olde Saugus Cafe, but the name was then changed to The Original Saugus Cafe. State records show that name registered as an LLC under Alfredo Mercado.
After Arklin’s death, however, the Arklin family filed a pending trademark application to lay its own claim to the name.
The Mercado family is resisting.
"As long as they don't buy the name from us, we're not handing it over," Ponce said.
Ponce said the family had no idea the landlord planned to continue operations.
"We truly did think we were closing," she said. "We were not aware that they had plans to continue."
She apologized to customers for the confusion.
Whether the decades-old restaurant name survives — and under whose control — may ultimately be decided in court.
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A large black bear has finally crawled out from under a house in Altadena where he’s been hiding for more than a month.
How we got here: The roughly 550-pound bear, dubbed “Barry” by the neighbors, had been holed up in a crawlspace beneath the home since late November.
Why now: Cort Klopping, a spokesperson with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, confirmed to LAist Thursday that the bear had left and the access point had been secured.
The backstory: This wasn’t the first time the bear hid out under a house in Altadena. The same bear was lured out from another crawlspace in the area and relocated miles away to the Angeles National Forest after the Eaton Fire last year. Wildlife officials said they believed he'd been back in Altadena for several months.
Why it matters: Officials encourage residents to secure access points around their homes. One suggestion is to cover crawlspaces with something stronger than the wire mesh Barry has broken through, such as metal bars.
What you can do: Bears are extremely food motivated and can smell snacks in trash cans on the curb from 5 miles away, Klopping has said. He suggested putting trash cans out the same day they get picked up and bringing pet food sources inside, including bird feeders. You can find tips on how to handle a bear in your backyard here and resources from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife here.
Go deeper: Barry’s staying put: Large black bear still hiding out under Altadena home
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Community leaders and politicians in Los Angeles are responding in outrage after an ICE agent shot and killed a woman in Minnesota on Wednesday.
Why it matters: The fatal ICE shooting of 37-year-old Renee Good has sparked anger and fear in Los Angeles, which has been an epicenter of federal immigration enforcement since the summer.
What are some groups saying? Jorge-Mario Cabrera with the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, or CHIRLA, says the killing was upsetting but not surprising. " Los Angeles has been witness of the escalating aggressiveness of these federal agents against the community," he told LAist.
Read on... for how local politicians are reacting.
Community leaders and politicians in Los Angeles are responding in outrage after an ICE agent shot and killed a woman in Minnesota on Wednesday.
The fatal ICE shooting of 37-year-old Renee Good has sparked anger and fear in Los Angeles, which has been an epicenter of federal immigration enforcement since the summer.
Jorge-Mario Cabrera with the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, or CHIRLA, says the killing was upsetting but not surprising.
" Los Angeles has been witness of the escalating aggressiveness of these federal agents against the community," he told LAist.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has defended the shooting, saying Good was trying to run agents over with her car. That account has been disputed by eyewitnesses, the mayor of Minneapolis and other officials. Bystander video also challenges the federal narrative, according to MPR News.
L.A. politicians have joined a chorus demanding justice for Good. Mayor Karen Bass posted on X, saying that ICE agents are waging "a purposeful campaign of fear and intimidation" on American cities.
"The senseless killing of an innocent and unarmed wife and mother by ICE agents today in Minneapolis is shocking and tragic and should never have occurred," she said in the post.
The senseless killing of an innocent and unarmed wife and mother by ICE agents today in Minneapolis is shocking and tragic and should never have occurred. And it happened because of the brutal and racist policies of the Trump administration that unleashed these agents in…
— Mayor Karen Bass (@MayorOfLA) January 8, 2026
L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn called on Noem to withdraw ICE from U.S. cities.
“These ICE agents are undertrained and trigger happy and everyone who has seen this video knows ICE murdered this woman,” she said in a statement.
Some protesters also gathered outside the federal building in downtown L.A. Thursday morning to condemn the killing.
As the Rams head to the NFL playoffs this weekend, we’re shining the spotlight on a beloved fan favorite: the Mariachi Rams. Violinist Crystal Hernández, the only woman in the band, tells LAist it’s exciting to see how fans — even those cheering for the opposing team — have embraced their presence at SoFi Stadium. She said it shows how involved and integral Latino culture is to L.A.
“There's no boundary. There's no border,” she said. “It’s all about love and joy and bringing excitement to the game.”
Game day: The Mariachi Rams’ musical flare has captivated audiences, blending hip-hop and rock-and-roll sounds with traditional mariachi. They typically perform two or three times throughout the game, starting with a Mexican classic like “El Rey” and segueing into local favorites like “Low Rider” from the Long Beach band War and Tupac’s “California Love.”
Keeping traditions alive: Crystal Hernández also works with L.A. County students at the nonprofit Mariachi Heritage Society. She said it’s important to pass the tradition down to kids — and especially young girls who may not otherwise see themselves represented onstage.
“If you're a mariachi, you're also an educator,” she said. “It's our responsibility to teach the next generation so this beautiful Mexican tradition doesn't die out.”
Read more: Mariachi Rams bring music to SoFi NFL games
This story was produced with help from Gillian Moran Pérez.
