Mumbai, April 4: Officials of the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Friday attempted to assure the media that a dispute over some of the coverage policies for the inaugural T20 tournament would be resolved soon.

All the contentious clauses are regarding the use of photographs during the event starting on April 18.

The IPL’s media accreditation terms say that they will be “entitled to use and reproduce, free of charge, worldwide and without limit in time any and all photographs/images captured” by the accredited media. There are further issues over the photographs not being used “in association with any marks, names or logos of any third party (commercial or otherwise)” and over a restriction on any online use without the prior written consent of the IPL.

Strong reactions

A number of media organisations raised objections to these clauses, and the Editors’ Guild of India, in a letter to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Sharad Pawar, said the clauses were “unprecedented and unacceptable to the Indian media, to say the least”.

“Indirectly, it is making a claim on the images taken by the media organisations as a property of the IPL. To say the least, this is a ridiculous claim, unheard of in the annals of free India’s media tradition. The IPL is even making a claim on the said property for future use,” the letter said.

The Sports Journalists’ Federation of India also wrote to Pawar, asking for these “unfair and unethical restrictions” to be “withdrawn unconditionally”.

‘Viable solution’

IS Bindra, a member of the IPL’s governing council, tried to ease the growing tension. “We, as cricket administrators, have always regarded the media as a major player and stakeholder in the development of cricket in India. I’m sure all media concerns will be dealt with due promptness and in spirit of mutual respect and confidence,” he told The Indian Express.

“The chairman of the IPL (Lalit Modi) is fully conscious of his responsibilities in this connection. I am sure a viable solution will be found through constructive discussion at the earliest,” he added.

Bindra said the clauses were not intended for newspapers and news agencies. “There is a bit of a misunderstanding here. In no way will newspapers be restricted from posting the pictures on their website. We only want to ensure that private agencies and websites who do not have anything to do with cricket but end up using these photographs for their private commercial gains should not be allowed to do so. Newspapers and magazines can post the pictures on their websites and there is no issue there.”

No changes have been made to the clauses yet.

“In the coming week, Mr Modi will sit with other IPL officials and we’re sure we can come to a solution. As long as the images are circulated for the purpose of news, there should be no problem,” Bindra added.

Despite several attempts, Lalit Modi was unavailable for comment.