Article: NFL to Limit Web Media

[theogt]

NFL limits Web media

Credentialed sites' audio, video content will have restrictions

By DON WALKER
dwalker@journalsentinel.com

Posted: May 18, 2007

The National Football League this week announced a new policy intended to govern the ability of media Web sites to offer audio and video content.

The NFL action is a reflection of the changes in technology and news gathering, and is a direct consequence of the popularity of a sport in which fans are looking for new ways to follow their respective teams.

The changes are of interest to newspaper Web sites such as JSOnline.com, the Journal Sentinel's Web site.

According to the new policy, credentialed Web sites can use up to 45 seconds per day of audio and/or video of interviews or press conferences involving NFL employees, including players and coaches, as well as practice footage. The policy states that the audio or video cannot be used live and may be archived for 24 hours.

Last season, the NFL allowed unlimited online audio and video non-game content. Game video was and will continue to be the property of NFL.com, the league's Web site.

Jim Jenks, executive sports editor of the Philadelphia Inquirer and president of the Associated Press Sports Editors organization, said Friday that media representatives met last year with NFL officials about a policy governing online content.

"We would like more. But in fairness, it is a first step," Jenks said.

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said that the league was expanding access to media.

"But we are also balancing news coverage vs. programming. We can't allow somebody to take our content and create a program around it unless we are licensing it," Aiello said.

For the past few years, JSOnline.com has offered audio of post-game interviews and midweek press conferences.

 

[theogt]

The National Football League always has us fans close to their hearts.

 

[Boyzmamacita]

I wonder if this includes fans sites, blogs or youtube type web sites.

 

[theogt]

I wonder if this includes fans sites, blogs or youtube type web sites.

According to the article even "credentialed" sites can only display 45 seconds of material. And they won't be able to post them live. So "non-credentialed" sites won't even be able to post that.

It sure was nice listening to press conferences online.

I don't mind paying for stuff. I would pay to listen to press conferences or to watch games. It's just that the league doesn't make many things available after the fact. You can't go and purchase all of our 2006 or prior games. They should make them available for purchase download on the internet. I'm afraid the same thing will happen to press conferences.

The line will get pretty thin here. What consitutes a press conference? Can coaches do interviews without the permission of the NFL? Will we have to pay for them? It's pretty disturbing if you ask me. The NFL and Goodell are really screwing the league over.

 

[Crown Royal]

Has this site ever been contacted by the NFL or any reps for improper usage of NFL content? I don't think we actually host any content, anything that is ever posted is a link to another source.

Hopefully this doesn't affect the Zone.

 

[WoodysGirl]

According to the article even "credentialed" sites can only display 45 seconds of material. And they won't be able to post them live. So "non-credentialed" sites won't even be able to post that.

It sure was nice listening to press conferences online.

I don't mind paying for stuff. I would pay to listen to press conferences or to watch games. It's just that the league doesn't make many things available after the fact. You can't go and purchase all of our 2006 or prior games. They should make them available for purchase download on the internet. I'm afraid the same thing will happen to press conferences.

The line will get pretty thin here. What consitutes a press conference? Can coaches do interviews without the permission of the NFL? Will we have to pay for them? It's pretty disturbing if you ask me. The NFL and Goodell are really screwing the league over.

I'm pretty sure it won't apply league-owned websites like DC.COM. They should still be able put up online media at any length, because it's league-sponsored.

I think sites like the ticket or espn 103.3 will be affected.

 

[theogt]

Has this site ever been contacted by the NFL or any reps for improper usage of NFL content? I don't think we actually host any content, anything that is ever posted is a link to another source.

Hopefully this doesn't affect the Zone.

It'll affect the Zone in the sense that we won't be able to recap press conferences because we won't be able to listen to press conferences on The Ticket or DallasCowboys.com.

I'm pretty sure it won't apply league-owned websites like DC.COM. They should still be able put up online media at any length, because it's league-sponsored.

I think sites like the ticket or espn 103.3 will be affected.

Hard to say whether DC.com will be affected. They're certainly a "media site" in the sense that they write and present journalism to consumers. We'll have to find out more details, but I doubt DC.com could display full games online and they're treating press conferences the same way as games.

 

[Crown Royal]

It'll affect the Zone in the sense that we won't be able to recap press conferences because we won't be able to listen to press conferences on The Ticket or DallasCowboys.com.

Hard to say whether DC.com will be affected. They're certainly a "media site" in the sense that they write and present journalism to consumers. We'll have to find out more details, but I doubt DC.com could display full games online and they're treating press conferences the same way as games.

I don't see how it affects DC.com.

 

[WoodysGirl]

It'll affect the Zone in the sense that we won't be able to recap press conferences because we won't be able to listen to press conferences on The Ticket or DallasCowboys.com.

Hard to say whether DC.com will be affected. They're certainly a "media site" in the sense that they write and present journalism to consumers. We'll have to find out more details, but I doubt DC.com could display full games online and they're treating press conferences the same way as games.

Again it goes back to how you think of credentials. DC.COM is wholly owned and operated by the Dallas Cowboys. I doubt they will be held to the same standard as sites like DMN or FWST. I think actual news media will be affected, not team-owned websites.

And even if you can't listen to a PC live, it doesn't mean you can't recap it later, because it'll still be put up on their website.

 

[theogt]

I don't see how it affects DC.com.

It depends on whether they're a "credentialed media site" or something else.

 

[theogt]

Again it goes back to how you think of credentials. DC.COM is wholly owned and operated by the Dallas Cowboys. I doubt they will be held to the same standard as sites like DMN or FWST. I think actual news media will be affected, not team-owned websites.

And even if you can't listen to a PC live, it doesn't mean you can't recap it later, because it'll still be put up on their website.

The article states that, previously, all "non-game content" was publicly available. It states that, now, "non-game content" will be property of the NFL, not the Dallas Cowboys. If DC.com is only "credentialed media," no more than 45 seconds will be available on their site.

 

[WoodysGirl]

The article states that, previously, all "non-game content" was publicly available. It states that, now, "non-game content" will be property of the NFL, not the Dallas Cowboys. If DC.com is only "credentialed media," no more than 45 seconds will be available on their site.

The Dallas Cowboys are a part of the NFL, so I can't see any scenario where press conferences and such won't be made available online through the team-owned sites.

I'm interested in the details of this policy, because if you go by the article, it doesn't refer to team-owned media.

 

[lspain1]

I hope there is some clarification on this, because it sounds pretty bad on the surface.

 

[theogt]

The Dallas Cowboys are a part of the NFL, so I can't see any scenario where press conferences and such won't be made available online through the team-owned sites.

I'm interested in the details of this policy, because if you go by the article, it doesn't refer to team-owned media.

The Dallas Cowboys and the NFL are separate entities. Property owned by the NFL is not necessarily property owned by the Dallas Cowboys. Property owned by the Dallas Cowboys is not necessarily property owned by the NFL.

We'll certainly need to know more details, because both interpretations are reasonable from this article.

 

[BouncingCheese]

urghhh.....

God, is the NFL trying to have a George Orwelle-esque novel written about them? God, get off of it NFL, I would think any coverage would be positive.

 

[speedkilz88]

I would appreciate if someone on the board would shoot Mickey an e-mail on the subject.

 

[speedkilz88]

The dc.com multimedia center isn't working for me. Is this just a coincidence?

 

[dogberry]

Wouldn't the copywrite to the question belong to the reporter's employer and the answer to the team? Shouldn't the NFL get a release from the newspaper to release their copywrited question? Maybe a lawyer will tell me why I'm wrong.

 

[YosemiteSam]

No worries. TheVideoBay.com will be coming online soon enough and you will be able to watch all the NFL videos you want!

While, I disagree with warez for the most part. It's companies like the NFL doing stuff like this and Disney doing stuff like THIS that I don't mind TheVideoBay.com cropping up or what China did to Disney.

They say money is the root of all evil. It's not. It's the relentless want of money or Greed that is evil.

 

[Hypnotoad]

Wow, this is a step backwards...