Sport

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 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;

(c) 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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