Anyone who has ever tuned in to a professional sports broadcast had heard the line “any rebroadcast, reproduction or other use of this game without the express written consent of [insert league here] is prohibited.”
But who has the authority to determine how high school sporting events in Wisconsin can be broadcast online?
That is one of the questions raised in the lawsuit filed by the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) against newspaper magnate Gannett Co., Inc. in Portage County.
As someone who previously spent the better part of a decade covering high school sports in Wisconsin, the WIAA became increasingly protective of its product, especially post-season tournaments.
But the organization is not the NFL or MLB, so can it ultimately prohibit a proud parent sitting in the bleachers from capturing their child’s athletic achievements on video, than post it on YouTube to share with relatives?
That’ll be up to the judge to decide.
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March 6th, 2009 at 3:19 pm
Not sure, but I don’t think the WIAA is trying to stop parents from taping their kids at sporting events.
It’s probably more along the lines of protecting the people to whom they’ve sold the rights to (ie why watch the game on cable or go to the game when you can see it for free on the internet)
March 11th, 2009 at 8:58 am
If the WIAA is selling “rights” to broadcast high school sports, which are put on and paid for by the taxpayers, and are thus a public entity, and not a private one like the NFL or MLB, then I hope the WIAA loses and goes down in flames. It appears to be just another private group trying to make money off taxpayers. A pox on the WIAA.