IPL - Media dispute

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IPL-media tussle resolved NEW DELHI: The issue of accreditation guidelines that threatened to lead to a media boycott of the inaugural Indian Premier League (IPL) was resolved to the ?satisfaction? of the Indian Newspaper Society (INS) on ... More... IPL-media tussle resolved Special Correspondent NEW DELHI: The issue of accreditation guidelines that threatened to lead to a media boycott of the inaugural Indian Premier League (IPL) was resolved to the “satisfaction” of the Indian Newspaper Society (INS) on Tuesday. Following discussions between IPL Chairman and Commissioner, Lalit Modi, and Mr. Hormusji N. Cama, a representative of the INS appointed by its President, Babubhai Shah, in Mumbai, the contentious issues in the accreditation guidelines were “settled amicably.” In a press release, Mr. Modi said: “I am glad that the debate about the media accreditation terms and conditions has been resolved to the satisfaction of the Indian Newspaper Society. There were some misunderstandings that we have been able to clarify…" While the revised guidelines have removed or amended most of the contentious clauses, the one point that was being objected to by the news agencies, that of a bar on supply of photographs to dedicated cricket portals, still remains. “We are still asking them to remove that clause, but in the meantime we have decided to apply for accreditation. We will cover the tournament under protest,” said Executive Editor of the Press Trust of India (PTI), V.S. Chandrasekar. The tournament begins on April 18. The following are the revised guidelines: Accreditation guidelines for media groups 1. Only one Reporter / Sports Reporter recommended by the Editor / Sports Editor of a publication will be given accreditation at a venue, unless otherwise agreed. (National dailies to get two accreditations). 2. Two journalists representing a recognized News Agency will be given accreditation at a venue, unless otherwise agreed. Only one photographer per News Agency will be given accreditation at a venue, unless otherwise agreed. 3. However an open and flexible accreditation process will be followed in case of the above clauses. 4. Only one pair (journalist + cameraman) representing an Electronic Media Group will be given accreditation, unless otherwise agreed. 5. Only one photographer representing a print media publication (national as well as regional) will be accommodated on match day inside the venue. One more photographer may be accommodated subject to availability of space. 6. Reporters for websites, which have not otherwise been granted accreditation, will be given access to the venue the day before the match and for post match press conferences only, unless otherwise agreed. Formalities pre and post accreditation 1. Every application for accreditation will have to be accompanied by two photographs. 2. Every application will have to be accompanied by a covering letter signed by the editors / sports editors or another relevant representative of the concerned publication / channel. 3. The accreditation cards will have to be collected in person, at the venue of the first match he / she is attending. 4. All journalists holding accreditation will have to meet the Media Managers at the match venues to collect their match passes from the day before the match. However the passes will be available up to two hours before the start of a match. They will be permitted to enter the venues only if they have their accreditation card as well as a match pass on the match day. Guidelines of accreditation for photographers 1. The Accredited Party consents that use may be made, free of charge, of his / her name, voice, image and likeness by means of live or recorded audio / visual broadcast or transmission, recordings or photographs be used by licensed media / licensee whilst he is at the Venue by giving due credit to the accredited party. Provided that the IPL shall use such images etc., only for promotion of cricket and not for commercial purposes. 2. Only representatives of Sony India may make and use sound and / or video recordings of any match for television broadcast purposes. 3. The Accredited Party and/or principal shall not use its accreditation at any time, whether now or in the future for commercial purpose except for his/her publication or syndication service or in the case of a news agency for their clients/customers (save in respect of the exercise of any rights which have been expressly granted by IPL and in the case of Accredited Photographers save as provided in paragraph below). 4. Each Accredited Party and/or principal shall make available to IPL, if requested, for inspection and approval, any equipment for security purpose only. 5. The Accredited Party and/or principal shall not knowingly cause or permit the use of any material captured and/or recorded by the Accredited Party to be used in any way in breach of the intellectual property rights owned by IPL and/or the League. For the avoidance of doubt, nothing in this agreement affects the intellectual property rights of any accredited individual, organisation or publication in any way whatsoever. For further avoidance of doubt, nothing in these Terms and Conditions of Accreditation is intended to be, or shall be interpreted as, restricting or preventing the exercise of journalistic practices including reporting, comment and criticism. (Note: Publications may publish stand-alone pictures as captured or with adaptation but without deliberately removing the sponsors’ logo for the purpose of superimposing any other commercial brands. 6. The Accredited Party may, notwithstanding paragraph above and provided that he/she is an Accredited photographer, originate still photographic pictures of a Match for editorial use on or in print media, websites and within news services such as syndication services and in the case of a news agency for their clients/customers except stand alone cricket portals provided that: (a) they appear as still images (and not as moving images to emulate broadcast); (b) images are published media for editorial reporting purposes only; © the Accredited Party or photographer and their syndication or news service clients may publish any such still photographic images on websites or within news services in accordance with the following terms: (i) Websites may use a reasonable number of stills; (ii) Such photographic stills images may be used on websites for editorial uses but not for non-editorial websites using such stills for: a. Direct Commercial Purposes b. Websites which are solely dedicated to the IPL or the IPL teams 7. Any proposed use of Match photography by an Accredited Party and/or his principal for Commercial Purposes [except syndication to publications] is subject to the prior written consent of IPL. 8. In the event of an alleged breach of the above clauses, the IPL and the Accredited Party must make all reasonable efforts to resolve the dispute before any steps may be taken by the IPL to withdraw the accreditation. This will include in the first instance, the IPL notifying an appropriate representative of the relevant news media organisation of the alleged breach and request rectification of such breach. A reasonable period must be given for an opportunity to rectify breach after such notification. 9. These guidelines will supersede previous draft guidelines.

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Cricinfo at odds with IPL : Crass discrimination The IPL's severe, and crassly discriminating, restrictions on Cricinfo will not prevent the website from covering the tournament to the best of its ability. More... Opinion | Sambit Bal >> Indian Premier League Crass discrimination The IPL's severe restrictions on Cricinfo will not prevent the website from covering the tournament to the best of its ability. Sambit Bal April 16, 2008 The IPL's outrageous regulations are a brazen assault on the concept of freedom of the press by a sports body apparently drunk on its sense of power © AFP Our worst fears have come to pass. Cricinfo, and all other cricket websites, who serve millions of cricket fans, have been subjected to a crassly discriminatory set of regulations by the Indian Premier League that seek to severely undermine our ability to cover the event. Cricinfo's journalists have been barred from entering the press box, and it has been made clear that pictures agencies will not be able to sell us match pictures. It is not merely a denial of our basic rights as a media organisation and with nearly ten million readers, we can lay claim to be the world's largest cricket media organisation. It is a denial of the rights of every cricket fan, each one of you who follows cricket on Cricinfo. It is also a brazen assault on the concept of freedom of the press by a sports body apparently drunk on its sense of power. The IPL's attitude towards the media has been insolent from the outset. They began with the premise that they owned every photograph taken by press photographers and agencies at their matches, and by demanding that news organisations hand such photographs over to the IPL for perpetual use, free of cost. They also decreed how photographs ought to be used, how many could be used, and who could use them. Inevitably, their bluff was called. Faced with a media boycott, the IPL was forced into withdrawing, one by one, its obnoxious clauses. Lalit Modi, to whom must go the credit of conceiving the IPL, and with it these outrageous regulations, had apparently not reckoned with the clout of newspapers. But websites remain a soft target. There are only a few of us dedicated to cricket, and we don't feature on the political map. The reason advanced to keep us out couldn't be more spurious - and potentially more dangerous. It has been argued that "standalone cricket portals" will not be entertained at the ground and be allowed to use agency pictures because the IPL has sold its web rights. What next? Newspaper rights? News agency rights? Photo rights? Surely, freedom of the press can't be a partial and expedient device. Speciously, websites run by newspapers, and general-interest websites have been exempted. Only we, the ones who spend all their energy and resources in covering cricket, have been isolated and targeted. Our commitment to cover cricket is absolute, as is our obligation to you. We will try to bring you every game with the same rigour and depth you have come to expect from us It has been argued that what we do conflicts with the IPL's commercial interests. In other words, as long as we are around, as long as cricket fans see us as the most comprehensive and credible source for news, views and scores for cricket, the BCCI's ambitions for its own website are unlikely to be fulfilled. They are missing something important here: Independence and credibility are vital ingredients for any media organisation. A cricket board can not be expected to rise above its own interests. Of course, we have commercial interests. We provide a free service to cricket fans, but like all media organisations we accept advertisements. However, covering cricket is more than just a business proposition for us. Cricinfo was founded on passion and that spirit remains untouched. To us, covering cricket is much more than a business, it's an obligation to the game and to the millions of readers who rely on us. We cover cricket in Kenya and Bermuda; and in India, we go considerable lengths to cover domestic cricket, that impoverished and uncared-for cousin, with no expectation of returns other than the satisfaction of having served cricket. This, of course, might be beyond the comprehension of those who cannot see the game beyond the rights it offers. Sport and the media have always enjoyed a mutually profitable relationship. Media promotes sport, sport helps sell papers, boost viewership and page-views. Neither can prosper in denial. The IPL's misbegotten agenda of restricting the rights of the media was born out of short-sightedness and arrogance. It is a relief that wiser counsel has prevailed in most matters. We will live with the restrictions. You may keep us out of cricket grounds, but you can't take cricket out of us. Boycotting the IPL is not an option for us. Our commitment to cover cricket is absolute, as is our obligation to you. Neither are we blind to the significance of the IPL, which could be a seminal event in cricket, for better or worse. We will try to bring you every game with the same rigour and depth you have come to expect from us. Please bear with us if some matters like photographs are beyond us. No one is bigger than the game. Administrators will come and go, but as long as cricket is around, Cricinfo will be here to cover it. That's a promise.

[Gambit]

Cricinfo is livid with IPL's stance on media coverage and rightly so. Slowly TV channels are starting to flex their muscle as well. IPL is panicking and arranging resolution meetings:

IPL faces television blackout April 16, 2008 00:30 IST After sorting out almost all the issues with the print media, the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Tuesday night faced a boycott of its coverage by major television channels from midnight. The decision of the channels coming under the umbrella organisation of News Broadcasters Association was conveyed by Secretary General Annie Joseph to IPL Chairman Lalit Modi tonight. The television channels were protesting against exclusive use rights given to Sony Network and IPL's refusal to discuss the issue with them. The association has written a letter conveying its views to Modi. "At the end of this day, therefore, our members are left with a partial and unsatisfactory response to our attempts to ensure a balanced approach between their rights to fair use and the rights and interests of IPL, and establish a relationship based on mutuality of interests and equity in law," the letter read. The News Broadcasters Association's decision came after the IPL announced that it has reached an agreement with the Indian Newspaper Society on the conditions for media accreditation. It also made public the revised guidelines which drop several of its controversial conditions like the newspapers and agencies having to upload all the photographs taken by them on the IPL website within 24 hours of the match, failing which the accreditation of the media house would be cancelled. The other stiff conditions included intellectual property rights for media coverage and the number of photos that can be used by the newspapers and news agencies on their website. However, the IPL did not relent on the condition that news agencies cannot give their IPL match photographs to cricket-dedicated websites. Asked about the ongoing controversy, BCCI president Sharad Pawar [images] said, "I have told Modi that I don't want to hear any complaint from either the print and electronic media and he has promised (to take care of the issue)."

http://www.rediff.com/cricket/2008/apr/16ipl.htm

[The Outsider]

This kind of a ban on the media is unlikely to work if past precedents are anything to go by.

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IPL resolves dispute with TV channels The IPL settles its dispute with the News Broadcasters' Association, the umbrella body for TV news channels, on issues related to the coverage of the event. More... IPL resolves dispute with TV news channels Press Trust Of India Mumbai, April 17, 2008 First Published: 10:16 IST(17/4/2008) Last Updated: 10:24 IST(17/4/2008) The Indian Premier League (IPL) has settled its dispute with the News Broadcasters' Association (NBA), the umbrella body for TV news channels, on issues related to the coverage of the high-profile event after a meeting in Mumbai. "All the pending disputes were resolved and the meeting was a success," sources close to IPL said. The TV channels were unhappy with the charges demanded for showing clips of the IPL matches that, they felt, were too high and had threatened to boycott the multi-million dollar Twenty20 tournament starting in Bangalore on Friday. Last night, representatives of the NBA discussed the contentious issues with IPL Chairman Lalit Modi and representatives of Sony Television, which holds the broadcasting rights for the event that ends on June 1. The television channels were protesting against the exclusive rights given to Sony Network and the NBA had written a letter to Modi which resulted in the late night parleys among the parties involved. A few days ago, the IPL had resolved a dispute arising over stringent media accreditation guidelines with the Indian Newspaper Society.

[Tapioca]

http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/ipl/content/current/story/346768.html IPL has withdrawn all restriction on news channels except that the archival footage can be used only for a year. It is only Cricinfo that has got screwed now.

[Gambit]

The big Global agencies are boycotting IPL.

Global news and photograph agencies will carry out their threat to boycott coverage of the Indian Premier League because of the restrictions on the distribution of photographs. Agencies are prohibited from providing photographs of the Twenty20 tournament to cricket-specific websites. The News Media Coalition (NMC), the umbrella body that comprises global news and photograph agencies Reuters, Associated Press, Agence France-Presse (AFP) and Getty Images, called the restrictions "discriminatory". "It is discriminatory for the accreditation terms to prohibit international news agencies from being able to serve a specific group of users, such as cricket websites," the NMC said in a statement. "The interests of the IPL are protected by the fact that its accreditation terms limit news content generated by the news agencies to be used for editorial purposes only. The NMC calls upon the IPL to remove remaining obstacles in the way of full editorial coverage of the tournament." The Editors Guild of India also called for the withdrawal of "unacceptable conditions" while the Press Trust of India, India's leading news agency, had said it would cover the event "under protest". The tournament's initial media guidelines which, among other constraints, gave the IPL the right to use all pictures taken at its grounds for free and without restrictions, had met with severe criticism from media bodies. The IPL then removed some of the limitations imposed but news agencies, stand-alone cricket websites and news channels were still unhappy. News channels dropped their boycott threat after their two main issues - accreditation and access to match footage - were resolved.

http://content-www.cricinfo.com/ci/content/story/346883.html?CMP=OTC-RSS

[Tapioca]

Can someone please check what http://iplt20.com/ looks like, and give me a link to the next page. It just got "launched" For me, most of the page appears as a missing plugin. As I don't want to download the plugin (being at work), I can't get past that.

[Vignesh]

IPL is going to be a big failure if it is going to be held with this kind of media regulations......... Nervous days ahead for ICL... If IPL clicks ICL loses If IPL fails i would not be surprised to see the BCCI declaring the ICL as OFFICIAL and ICC would SPIT on BCCI's Faces........ I wouldn't be surprised if this happens..

[Gambit]

Can someone please check what http://iplt20.com/ looks like, and give me a link to the next page. It just got "launched" For me, most of the page appears as a missing plugin. As I don't want to download the plugin (being at work), I can't get past that.

Tappy you wont believe it but when I went on that site 1/2 hr ago, there was a clock that was ticking down to site launch. When it went to zero, this is the message that was displayed. Sorry, you are too late. :hysterical: :omg:

[Tapioca]

Aha !!!!!

[Vignesh]

Tappy you wont believe it but when I went on that site 1/2 hr ago, there was a clock that was ticking down to site launch. When it went to zero, this is the message that was displayed. Sorry, you are too late. :hysterical: :omg:

:haha:

[Gambit]

[Tapioca]

:hysterical:

[Gambit]

It's finally up - http://iplt20.com/

[Tapioca]

Down at the moment. Probably couldn't handle the load.

[The Outsider]

Tappy you wont believe it but when I went on that site 1/2 hr ago, there was a clock that was ticking down to site launch. When it went to zero, this is the message that was displayed. Sorry, you are too late. :hysterical: :omg:

Damn, have coffee all over my laptop!!:hysterical::hysterical::hysterical: