Sport

IPL coverage: Editors Guild of India’s reservations on revised terms

CHENNAI: The Editors Guild of India has rejected the Indian Premier League’s revised terms and conditions for media accreditation to cover the forthcoming DLF-IPL Twenty20 matches.

The Secretary General of the Guild, K.S. Sachidananda Murthy, has written to IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi highlighting the ‘unacceptable’ clauses and marked a copy of the letter to Sharad Pawar, President, Board of Control for Cricket in India.

Following are the press release and the letter from the Guild to Mr. Modi:

Press release:

The Editors Guild of India had noted that the terms and conditions for accreditation of journalists to the Indian Premier League Cricket tournament being held under the aegis of the Board of Control for Cricket in India later this month had several unacceptable conditions.

The Guild had written to Mr. Sharad Pawar, President BCCI and Mr Lalit Modi, Commissioner, IPL drawing their attention these conditions. Mr. Modi had invited representatives of Sports Journalists Federation of India and other interested persons for a discussion in Mumbai on April 7.

Representatives of the Guild had interacted on telephone with Mr. Modi and explained why the Guild found the terms and conditions unacceptable. Mr. Modi had promised a revision of the terms and conditions based on the discussions.

However the revised terms and conditions which have been put on IPL website still contain clauses which are unacceptable to the media and would seriously affect the independence of the editors especially when it comes to selection and use of photographs. The IPL’s demand that the newspapers and news agencies must submit pictures requested by IPL for free and global use by IPL is also unacceptable,

The Guild has sent a response to Mr. Modi and has circulated to all its members, to the Indian Newspaper Society, the Sports Journalists Federation of India and other media bodies to take appropriate action in reaction to these unacceptable conditions.

Letter to Mr. Modi:

Dear Mr. Modi,

The Editors Guild of India had written to you last week regarding the unacceptable terms and conditions for accreditation of journalists to IPL and you had responded by inviting sports journalists’ federation for a meeting in Mumbai on April 7. Representatives of the Guild had interacted with you over telephone during this discussion. You had promised that the IPL would review the terms and conditions based on the discussions you had.

Now the final terms and conditions have been put on the IPL.

While there is some relaxation in the originally proposed terms and conditions, the Guild finds that some terms are still harsh, and affect the freedom of the newspapers and news agencies for the following reasons:

1. The blanket prohibition on use of the photographs taken by a newspaper or news agency which are the exclusive property of the newspaper or news agency, for online use or syndication, is unacceptable. News agencies are free to supply photographs to all their subscribers and newspapers supply material, including archival material. A newspaper which subscribes to a news agency for photo service obviously uses the best pictures, selected by its editors both from its own photographer and the news agency.

2. A quantitative limit is sought to be put on the number of photographs which can be uploaded by a newspaper or news agency to its website. This is clearly the domain of the editor to decide and the IPL cannot put any limit.

3. The IPL has insisted that the accredited photographer should supply every picture requested by the IPL "for use and reproduction, free of charge, worldwide and without limit in time... at any Ground". This is strange logi of the terms and conditions. While a newspaper is restricted to use its own photographs even on its own website, but it should supply every image required by IPL for worldwide use and distribution, that too free of cost.

These comments of the Guild are being communicated for your consideration, with a copy marked to President BCCI, Sports Journalists Federation of India, the Indian Newspaper Society and other media bodies

Yours sincerely,

Alok Mehta, President & K.S. Sachidananda Murthy, Secretary General.

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