NASCAR Owns It All

If you’re a NASCAR fan, or motorsports
journalist covering NASCAR events, the road to providing and receiving
information appears to be fraught with more potholes, and actual restraints on
reporting.

What appears to be brand, spankin’ new
legalese has reared its ugly head. The language, in its entirety, reads as
follows:

"NASCAR owns all rights to
broadcast, transmit, files, tape, capture, overhear, photograph, collect or
record by any means (including but not limited to television, cable
television, radio, pay-per-view, closed circuit television, satellite
signal, digital signal, and the Internet) all images, sounds and data
arising from or during any NASCAR Event and NASCAR shall be the sole owner
of any and all copyrights, intellectual property rights, and proprietary
rights worldwide in and to these works and in and to any other works,
copyrightable or otherwise, created from the images, sounds and data arising
from or during any NASCAR Event. The bearer of any tickets/credentials
purchased or obtained via this document agrees not to take any action, or
cause others to take any action, which would contravene, diminish, encroach
or infringe upon these NASCAR rights."

Before you stop reading, and mutter the
usual ‘big deal, who cares . . . as long as there are races’ you might want
to consider what’s really going on here. In the event you disbelieve what you
read above, log onto www.nascar.com
and check it out for yourself.

This not only affects the Associated
Press, The Charlotte Observer, The Washington Post, etc., etc., this language
also prevents you, the fan who pays BIG bucks to attend "any NASCAR
Event" from basically going back home and telling your friends what you saw
and heard. Yep. Not that the Daytona Beach Secret Police will be skulking around
behind ticket holders to see what info they share, you can bet your booties that
your favorite website/magazine/newspaper won’t have all the usual fare you’ve
grown accustomed to. Unless, of course, said mediums are willing to pay license
fees to NASCAR for the right to publish or broadcast information immediately,
and then wind up having NASCAR own all rights to any and all works, regardless.

When any individual signs on the dotted
line for a credential, or purchases a ticket from any track, they will
automatically have given up their rights to any and all information they glean,
photos they take, or the incidents they witnessed with their very own eyes.

What the heck, right? Not many people seem
to be upset that coolers are not allowed at any of the International Speedway
Corporation’s tracks, and that despite ISC’s statement of selling items at
reduced prices, the profit margin probably still hovers around 200% or more. Nor
that ISC owns the majority of tracks that host the NASCAR Winston Cup Series and
ticket prices have skyrocketed to the point of being out of reach for most
loyal, long-time supporters – you know, the hard working blue collar Americans
that have stood by NASCAR since the beginning, and endured the nickname of
"Rednecks" for so many years . . .

This newest development, however, is more
aggressive and wreaks of the Essence of Greediness. Of course, the NFL, NBA, PGA,
NHL, NCAA, and MLB (to mention a handful) are certainly not innocent in the
greed department either, and the NFL could possibly wear the crown of
trend-setting greed for its 1998 $17.6 Billion television rights deal. And since
the powers that be in Daytona Beach appear hell-bent to outdo the NFL, just hold
onto your hats, folks.

Know that favorite sports bar of yours –
the one with the wide screen tv where you can hang out with friends and watch
NASCAR racing . . . those could disappear if, in fact, NASCAR demands license
fees from bar owners to show patrons the live events . . . heck, even taped
events! Don’t chuckle. The issue of infringement has already been successfully
litigated dozens of times by the NFL against commercial establishments simply
airing a game on the television sets. The end result in each case was that
monetary awards for damages were due NFL and permanent injunctions were placed
upon the establishments involved.

The so-called live timing and scoring from
qualifying is technically limited to be displayed and available on only licensed
venues. Since there aren’t many analog cable companies already converted to
digital – and some may never be – many fans are unable to even watch on
CNNSI . . . and FX as well.

"Intellectual Property" is a
very broad term, and one which is not really addressed in full under 17 U.S.C.
Section 101, et seq. Rather, the determination of who owns what in the
sports world is falling upon the federal courts throughout the U.S. rather than
elected Congressional representatives. Why should a Judge be shouldered with the
responsibility of determining whether a sentence overheard by an individual
during a NASCAR event is actually the sole property of NASCAR. (Rhetorical only,
of course)

Remember the days when nearly every form
of sports welcomed media coverage with open arms? For some, like NASCAR, the
only way to gather more coverage was to pamper and coddle the journalists
assigned to that beat.

Now, however, in the world of NASCAR, the
clamps are being turned tight on the credentialing process as a means of
restricting media access and thus controlling the information flow to only those
affiliations of the sanctioning body itself. Quite possibly most remember the
now infamous Article 4 issue . . . this newest language and requirements are
simply the same old attempt to micromanage that reared its ugly head nearly two
years ago.

A ticket holder and/or media
representative may either adhere to the letter of the NASCAR claims to ownership
of everything, or draw a line through the objectionable parts (which involve a
myriad of legal subjects such as antitrust, intellectual property, contract law
and even interpretation of the First Amendment) and hope that the requested
credential or ticket will be issued despite the objections. Of course, the
long-standing practice of not issuing credentials to any websites or "news
magazine shows" just grew longer teeth. How recent and how well we remember
the Fox Sports/NASCAR refusal to credential ESPN ‘RPM2Night’ reporters, but
would credential SportsCenter reporters. NASCAR and Fox deemed RPM2Night to be a
magazine show (not to mention direct competition for all the Fox shows) and thus
only allowed SportsCenter to show 2 second film clips and abbreviated results.

 

In December 2000, after nearly 2-1/2 years
in the courts, Morris Communications, the parent company of the Augusta (Ga.)
Chronicle and the Florida Times-Union, was denied the right to sell PGA golf
scores to other media outlets. Morris’ contention that the golf scores were
public domain information once they were posted on the Web, and thus could be
sold to other news services, was countered by PGA’s argument that the $26
million PGA scoring system allowed for prevention of other companies making a
profit from the PGA’s new technology. The judge opined: "There is a
significant difference between reporting the news and selling the PGA Tour’s
proprietary information to third parties, which is the desire of Morris. The PGA
Tour alone has a right to do so." Precedent.

The proverbial manure will start hitting
the oscillator when the 2002 NASCAR season begins. When media access via
credentials becomes even more selective – and limited. When journalists and
news organizations – print and electronic – start wondering whether it’s
worth the effort to creatively compose articles, columns, etc. while effectively
turning over all claims of ownership of any and all efforts to NASCAR.

A collective show of strength from the
media might be enough to persuade NASCAR to negotiate on some points of
contention, though you may see flying pigs before all claims of ownership of
everything ceases and desists. It’s apparent that all sports entities want to
become the news providers as opposed to simply making news.

How long can any goose continue to lay
golden eggs, or how much time is left before Humpty Dumpty takes the big fall.

Last, and certainly not least, I hope all
RacinDeals readers had a wonderful Holiday and that the New Year 2002 will be
one for good memories.