The Newspaper Publishers’ Association has branded proposed media rules for covering cricket’s controversial Indian Premier League as “some of the most restrictive and burdensome access arrangements ever seen”.
The terms were published by the IPL last week and news organisations have been given just five days to consider them before the deadline of today, April 8.
The proposed rules state that the IPL would be entitled to use all pictures taken at the Twenty20 games for free, indefinitely and without restrictions and that news organisations must upload all images and pay all costs, similar to demands made by organisers last year ahead of the Rugby World Cup which resulted in a 24-hour media blackout of the tournament before a compromise was reached.
Failure to agree would result in refusal of accreditation. The IPA also stated that images could not be used on the websites of news organisations, a demand more restrictive than even the initial proposals at the Rugby World Cup, which led to protests from major news agencies including Reuters, AFP and PA Sport.
According to the NPA, if the demands of the IPL organisers were agreed to, they would become the “new benchmark for consideration by all sports events, including those in Britain”.
“If that is the intention, that would have enormous impact on newspapers with online operations and news agencies supplying pictures around the world,” the NPA’s Andrew Moger said in an email to news organisations.
He added: “As feared, the media accreditation terms for the Indian Premier League represent some of the most restrictive and burdensome access arrangements ever seen by the news media worldwide.
“If accepted these will become the new benchmark for consideration by all sports events, including those in Britain.
“Photography is the biggest target but so are the website operations of news organisations which carry match pictures.”
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