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IHSA files countersuit over newspaper photo rights

Posted December 04, 2007 10:00 pm

Chris Dettro

The Illinois High School Association has filed a counterclaim against three Illinois newspapers and a statewide press association, asking the court to stop the newspapers from selling photographs taken at IHSA state finals events.

The Illinois Press Association, together with The State Journal-Register and the Northwest Herald of Crystal Lake, last month sued the IHSA over its rules governing photos taken at IHSA-sanctioned state finals.

The press association asked a Sangamon County court for a preliminary injunction barring enforcement of IHSA rules, but withdrew the request after the two sides made progress on two issues - one involving access by press photographers and another concerning use of photos in newspapers and Web-based news stories.

The ongoing dispute over IHSA rules governing "secondary use" of photos is unresolved, however.

The counterclaim, filed in Sangamon County Circuit Court on Wednesday, asks the court to bar three newspapers - The State Journal-Register, the Northwest Herald and the Peoria Journal-Star - from selling photos of IHSA events and from taking photos at IHSA events for "non-news, commercial purposes."

It asks the court to declare that the IHSA has a right to restrict the newspapers from any non-news commercial use of photos taken at IHSA events.

It also asks for an injunction barring the newspapers from advertising the sale of photos taken at IHSA events without written approval from the IHSA.

Another count alleges that the newspapers were "unjustly enriched" by selling photos and asks for damages in excess of $50,000.

Springfield attorney Donald Craven, who represents the press association and the newspapers, said the IPA board is scheduled to meet Friday. He will file an answer to the counterclaim some time after that, he said.

"I haven't seen any weakness in the knees of the newspapers across the state" on the issue, Craven said.

The IHSA prohibited photographers from several newspapers from taking pictures on the field during the state football championships at the University of Illinois late last month. The organization required papers that wanted media passes to sign an agreement limiting their photo rights.

The photographers were allowed into the press box and stands, but they were not given passes for the field when they would not sign the agreement.

According to the counterclaim, the IHSA has a licensing agreement with Visual Image Photography Inc. of Wisconsin to be its official photographer. In exchange for the exclusive right to sell photos from state finals events, VIP Inc. makes its photos available for use to the IHSA at no charge.

The IHSA says more than 100,000 photos were made available to it in 2006 alone. In the 2000-01 school year, the year prior to its contract with VIP, the IHSA says it spent nearly $32,000 on photography services.

The IHSA said on its Web site that the counterclaim is "an effort to bring definitive resolution" to the dispute. The policy is similar to policies enacted by the Big Ten Conference, the University of Illinois, Illinois State University and many others, the IHSA said.

"We are in no way interfering with any newspaper's ability to report the news," said IHSA executive director Martin Hickman. "You don't need to sell a photo in order to report the news, nor does selling the photo enhance the news."

Craven said the IHSA's counterclaim "raises the same legal issues as our pleading."

"We want a declaration that the IHSA can't enter into an exclusive agreement on the use of photos, and they say they can," Craven said.

Chris Dettro can be reached at (217) 788-1510 or chris.dettro@sj-r.com.

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