What association is in a legal dispute over live-streaming Wisconsin High School football?
With the high-school football playoffs looming, as well as playoffs in other major fall sports, the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association, the governing body for high-school sports, is still in a legal dispute with media companies that want to video live-stream championship events. This debate has been going on for months. Back in December, the Gannett Co., Inc., publisher of The Post-Crescent in Appleton and nine other Wisconsin daily newspapers, and Wisconsin Newspaper Association were named as co-defendants in a lawsuit filed by the WIAA. The WIAA alleged that the media outlets were infringing on what the WIAA claims are its exclusive media ownership rights. The WIAA has argued that it has the right to “control the transmission, Internet stream, photo, image, film, videotape, audiotape, writing, drawing or other depiction or description of any game, game action, game information, or any commercial used of the same of an athletic event it sponsors, and that it has the right
Lawsuit May Decide High School Game Rights Online Wisconsin newspaper vs. athletic association in tussle over high school coverage online By COLIN FLY AP Sports Writer MILWAUKEE June 9, 2009 (AP) The Associated Press Post a Comment Ownership of scholastic athletics coverage is at stake in a legal tussle brewing over a Wisconsin newspaper’s decision to carry a high school football game live on its Web site last fall. The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association sued The Post-Crescent of Appleton and parent Gannett Co. as well as the Wisconsin Newspaper Association after the newspaper carried the state playoff game on its site Nov. 8. The association said it believes it owns the rights to the online footage because it organized, supervised and sponsored the football tournament. The lawsuit, which is scheduled for trial Feb. 8, also said the association’s ability to generate revenue needs to be protected. The association has a $7.1 million budget this year. WIAA executive director D
