Lawsuit Coming Over Ownership Of Sports Coverage?

Posted by Eriq Gardner

Techdirt picks up an interesting lawsuit threat at the end of a NY Times article about how sports blogging is forcing leagues to consider their media access rules.

Many media organizations have long had problems with the way in which professional sports leagues like Major League Baseball and the National Football League have doled out credentials. Typically, these leagues hold their audio and video intellectual property rights close to chest and have tried to limit the types of information that can be reported live. Especially as many of these organizations set up hot web venues designed to capture the value of the data themselves.

Now, Dave Tomlin, associate general counsel for the Associated Press, says the media may "need to get more organized" to fight back.

In addition, according to the paper, the Media Law Resource Center has "commissioned legal research in anticipation of the question of media restrictions going to the courts. One tactic being considered is to challenge MLB’s antitrust exemption."