Belgian tv stations disagree on football broadcasting rights
VTM, a Belgian TV channel is filing a complaint with the Flemish Media Regulator (VRM). The commercial broadcaster is appalled by public broadcaster VRT, that uses football summaries in their news programmes and on their website Sporza.be. VTM has acquired the exclusive rights to Belgian professional football broadcasts.
Although VTM has made huge investments to obtain soccer broadcasting rights, they do accept that the public broadcaster airs brief summaries of recent games. As a general rule, press exceptions and quotation rights allow news media to use this footage. However, VRT is pushing towards the limits of what VTM is willing to accept.
Not only does VRT make podcasts of their prime time news updates, they also edit the football fragments into a football newsclip that is separately placed on Sporza.be: A bridge too far, according to VTM.
VTM invested in a new sports website, after winning the football rights. Advertising revenues from that site were meant to offset some of the licensing costs. But, this plan is not working out for VTM, as “their” images are available daily on Sporza.be, albeit in an abbreviated form. Sporza.be is currently by far the most popular Flemish webpage for sports news, so if this page includes the highlights of football, readers have little incentive to visit other pages. VTM fears Sporza steers advertising revenue away from their website.
VTM is of the opinion that it is unfair to create new business models based on video clips that were obtained through freedom of information or press exceptions to copyright. They hope media regulator VRM will put an end to this. Perhaps it is also bothering them that they have to compete with a state broadcaster. VRT will simply await the decision of VRM, before taking action.
It is interesting to see what the media authority will decide. When VRT can rely on a press exception or other legal right to quote the fragments, then this footage is not protected by exclusive copyrights and the images can be used by VRT. In the Netherlands, a similar case has been brought before the Supreme Court. In the case of NOS vs. KNVB the Supreme Court ruled that the KNVB could not prevent the use of flashes of football broadcasts on the basis of their intellectual property rights. NOS was allowed to cite the footage. Although, KNVB had ownership rights on stadiums and grounds which had to be respected by NOS, that part of the ruling is not relevant to Flemish case of today. The Flemish media regulator will soon tell us how this legal question should be answered in Belgium.
Source: De Morgen Case law reference: Supreme Court of The Netherlands (HR) 23 october 1987 (NOS vs. KNVB)
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