The Premier League recently announced that it will be clamping down on Vine users recording Premier League footage (primarily on their mobile phone) and posting the recordings on social media channels including Twitter.

The Premier League is concerned that as they have a variety of products that they auction to various companies in a large number of jurisdictions, consumers using Vine are infringing the Premier League’s copyright.

Vine is a social media network where users upload six second looping videos. Vine videos can then be shared between users on a variety of platforms. Vine is owned by Twitter. As well as selling live rights in the UK to Sky and BT, the Premier League sell a number of near live mobile and internet rights to a number of retail distributers. See my previous blog for further background.

In the UK, those distributors are The Sun and the Times newspapers. Consumers  subscribe through access to apps and websites to view the premium, near live Premier League content. If consumers through Vine are able to make accessible the very goals and talking points that directly compete with the products that the Premier League has sold for around £20m over three years in the UK, this undermines the  value of the product.

As such, the Premier League explains that Vine users will be breaching the Premier League’s copyright by recording a live broadcast that is not meant to be accessible to the public via the internet or mobile app in each relevant jurisdiction. Dan Johnson, director of communications at the Premier League, explained that:

“You can understand that fans see something, they can capture it, they can share it, but ultimately it is against the law. It’s a breach of copyright and we would discourage fans from doing it. We’re developing technologies like gif crawlers, Vine crawlers, working with Twitter to look to curtail this kind of activity. I know it sounds as if we’re killjoys but we have to protect our intellectual property.”

Twitter responded with the following statement: “Vine users may not post content that violates the rights of a third party.” As such, the Premier League will no doubt be liaising with Vine and Twitter to ensure that any copyrighted materials are removed.

As set out in previous cases including Murphy and QC Leisure (see background to that case here), such copyrighted materials are likely to be the Premier League graphics, logos, music, highlights and replays contained in the broadcast. The Premier League believes such unauthorised use should not be permitted to be distributed to the public.

This is not the first time that the Premier League has litigated on such issues. The League had cases pending against YouTube and took pub landlords including Karen Murphy and decoder card distributors (like QC Leisure) to the European Courts to enforce their exclusive broadcasting agreements.

The next step will be to see whether Twitter accounts like these which openly advertise links to football related Vines will receive letters from the Premier League or communication from Vine to remove infringing content as a crack down on a new form of unauthorised digital rights distribution starts afresh. 

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Daniel Geey, Associate in the Competition and EU Regulatory Group at Field Fisher Waterhouse LLP.

Daniel has provided advice and presentations on a whole raft of football related issues and can offer industry specific legal advice on football takeovers, Premier League, Football Association, UEFA, FIFA, FFP and more.

Check out Daniel’s blog, ‘The Final Score on Football Law’ here and follow Daniel on Twitter here

Please feel free to get in touch with Daniel Geey should you or your club have any questions concerning the regulations.

Daniel Geey’s 

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The 2013-14 edition of the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race will be hosted by the Marina da Gloria in Rio de Janeiro this October.

The port will conclude Leg 1 of the Clipper Race which departs London on September 1, ailment creating a link between the 2012 Olympic Games and the 2016 Games in Rio.

Clipper Race founder and Chairman Sir Robin Knox-Johnston said: “We are really pleased to be returning to Rio and to be based in the marina selected to host the 2016 Olympic sailing events.

“We have significant experience of working with Olympic venues such as Qingdao in China which hosted the 2008 Beijing Olympic sailing.

“Given that London is hosting the fleet departure, it’s a great destination for the first leg of the race and Marina da Gloria has the facilities we require to accommodate our new fleet of twelve 70-foot ocean racing yachts.”

The hosting of the ninth edition of the Clipper Race is part of the strategy to consolidate Rio de Janeiro City as an international nautical destination.

In its announcement, REX, the Marina da Gloria concessionary company,  said: “Hosting a prestigious event such as the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race demonstrates our capacity to support major maritime events, helping Rio de Janeiro to establish itself as a leading internationally destination.”

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It’s no exaggeration to say that March 2012 will see the start of the most historic Rugby League season since the sport’s inception in 1895.

Super League of course switched to summer in 1996 and the semi-professional tier two competitions shortly after that but the majority of the grassroots continued to play in the winter up until this year.

Now, in March, for the first time the whole of Rugby League in this country from Super League right down to the grassroots will have an integrated summer-based playing calendar which covers both the professional and community game.

It’s an exciting time for our sport and over 85 per cent of all the Rugby League teams in this country will be playing within a new four tier structure with the season running from March to November.

That’s 1,586 teams in total which means that 86 per cent of players in the country will be playing in this season structure including 91 per cent of all youth and junior teams.

419 senior teams and 1,167 youth and junior teams are now playing in the summer whilst 155 senior teams and 115 Youth and junior teams remain in winter.

The newly aligned structure of the men’s game features Super League at tier one, the Championships at tier two, the Conference leagues at tier three and regional leagues at tier four.

The existing winter-based competitions will also be incorporated into tier four of the structure and will continue to be administrated and supported as they are at present.

The big switch to summer followed a long period of consultation with everyone involved in grassroots Rugby League.

The process started in early 2010 after a large number of postponed matches and training sessions over the winter when we received a number of letters from clubs asking us to see how many teams were interested in switching the playing season.

After a period of initial consultation with key stakeholders in the grassroots we asked Independent research company Vision Twentyone to carry out an official survey asking players what time of the year they wanted to play the sport.

The results of the online and telephone surveys showed support for a March to November season and we put together a new league structure.

Vision Twentyone were also asked to run a second consultation on the proposed new structure which was open to everyone in the community game and the results showed widespread support for the new pyramid structure.

These results were analysed by Rugby League’s Community Board which agreed that the proposed structure was the best way for the sport to progress and decided that the RFL should work towards implementing this for March 2012.

We’re now approaching kick-off for the inaugural summer season and there’s lots of excitement throughout the community game.There was a community Rugby League congress held over the weekend in Huddersfield for all teams that about to kick off the new season and covered media, marketing, administration, finance, coaching and pitch improvement.

It’s a huge opportunity for clubs entering this new era and as the sport’s governing body we want to give them as much support as possible to make this a huge success.

Sport England evidence shows that winter based team sports are in decline and summer individual sports are on the up and we also have experience in Rugby League which supports. 

The success of summer Rugby League in spreading the game at grassroots can be seen in the tremendous growth of the Rugby League Conference which began in 1998 with just 14 teams around the country and last year had around 200 teams competing.We believe summer Rugby League is a better product which will hopefully attract even more players to the sport.

Particularly for junior teams there will huge benefits in terms of better training conditions which will aid skill development.The summer switch means that clubs will enjoy better conditions on and off the field.

They can expect better playing conditions and weather, firmer grassier pitches, more spectators, more bar takings and an overall increase in the quality of the game.

Like the clubs and players we can’t wait for March!

 

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About David Gent:

David Gent is the RFL’s Director of Participation and leads the RFL Community Development team.

He has worked in sports development and management at Local Government, Sport England and Sports NGBs at a senior level and has wide experience of sports governance.

David has been the driving force behind the switch of Rugby League’s community game to a predominantly summer-based season which heralds a fantastically bright future for the sport.

He is also the team manager of a junior team at Bradford Dudley Hill RLFC and is involved in grassroots Rugby League week in, week out.

David Gent’s 

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As an “Official logistics partner of Formula One”, DHL is not only using the communication rights and logo placements for increasing eyeballs and image values, but also contributes to the F1 circus business-wise.

On behalf of Formula One Management, DHL is moving up to 300 tons of material to each race, for overseas races via aircraft and containers. Aside of the cars, the freight includes engines, spare parts and pit equipment. Furthermore, also TV and Paddock Club equipment are transported. At European races, DHL furthermore handles the trucks transporting the race fuel. At the track, DHL runs a mobile logistics centre with a 24 hour service for urgent freights, customs clearings and dangerous or special goods.

Formula One cars include the latest technology. The smallest changes to gear boxes or wings can cause the loss of tenths of a second. Due to the F1 cars being very sensitive, the teams’ overseas containers are shielded and permanently surveyed. Already from the delivery to DHL, the boxes are sealed. In order to transport the sensitive freight, front and rear wings, steering wheels, rear mirrors and the air deflectors are dismantled. The car’s underbody and sides are protected by wooden plates. On the rear, a bumper guard is protecting the gear box. A specially designed “travel front part” safeguards the steering and the front part of the chassis.

The planning for F1 logistics is a year-round job. The general planning for the season is ready by end of January. As the teams are continuously developing, DHL is offering its services year-round.

The Formula One teams often require last-minute deliveries. The target is always the same: to have the parts on time at the track. In order to meet these requirements, DHL operates the “Special Services Team”. With express flights, deliveries from and to the track can be effected in between 24 hours. If needed, an on-board messenger accompanies the freight, handles customs and e. g. if required delivers it with a helicopter directly into the paddock.

As the official logistics partner of Formula One, DHL transports the whole paddock and thus fills the loading space of 8 jumbo jets from the airports of London or Milano to all overseas races. At the European races, the teams transport their equipment with their own trucks.

With view to the Formula One fans, DHL became sponsor of the “DHL Fastest Lap” giving fans the opportunity to bet on the driver who is marking the fastest lap in every race and finally winning a car at the end of the season. The logistics specialist is additionally communicating its services by videos through its website www.dhl-fastest-lap.com Furthermore, DHL is running customer and b2b programs at many races.

Sonja Kreye, Sponsorship and PR Consultant, Sonja Kreye Consultancy

Sonja Kreye is a Sponsorship and PR Consultant and is working with customers that include tolimit Sport & Marketing, Publicis Kommunikationsagentur, Motorsport-Guide.com and Joest Racing Team. She is consulting her customers with regards to sponsorship concepts, sponsorship development and activation as well as with regards to public relations and communications. In her career, Sonja consulted and managed sponsorship concepts for brands such as DHL, Krombacher, Veltins, Sigma, Procter & Gamble and many more. Prior to her current role, Sonja was Business Relations Manager at Porsche and furthermore consulted Formula One race tracks such as Hockenheim, Shanghai and Magny Cours. She is furthermore an editor to various German motor sport and motor sport business magazines.

Sonja holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Media & Marketing from Steinbeis University Berlin, School of Management & Innovation

Sonja Kreye’s

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FC Barcelona has selected KORE ProSports Sponsorship™ from KORE Software to improve the management related to its worldwide sponsorship sales and activation. KORE is the global leader in business management software for the sports and entertainment industry, providing software designed to handle end-to-end sales, marketing, contracting, finance, and operations.  

Established in 1899, FC Barcelona is one of Europe’s and the world’s highest profile sports organizations. In regards to the implementation of KORE ProSports Sponsorship™ software, FC Barcelona observed the benefits and impact that KORE’s software has had on other world sponsorship industry leaders. They understood that KORE could play a strategic role in the integration and coordination of the sponsorship sales and activation within its commercial offices. 

After the recent inauguration of the second abroad commercial office in New York City, following the opening of the first one in Hong Kong three years ago, FC Barcelona is more commercially active than ever all around the world on a 24/7 basis. Under this global scenario, KORE ProSports Sponsorship™ was identified as the perfect solution to integrate all the everyday global commercial activities under the same tool. With this move, FC Barcelona positions itself as a first mover among the top European football clubs and makes a clear statement about its present and future ambitions. 

KORE President Todd Cusolle added, “We are excited to add an organization the caliber of FC Barcelona to our European operations. We look forward to boosting the operations of this world-class club for years to come.”  

About KORE Software:

KORE Software has revolutionized the way that the global sports industry does business. No other company on earth has more influence on how sports and entertainment assets are bought and sold, whether they be individual tickets, annual memberships, luxury suites, media, or corporate sponsorships—over €10 billion and growing go through KORE’s systems each year.  

The KORE ProSports™ suite of software is the global sports industry’s leading platform for turning a generic CRM, such as Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics CRM, or SAP into a 360-degree sports business system.  KORE’s software seamlessly integrates with other key business systems, including ticketing systems (e.g., Ticketmaster Archtics) and accounting systems (e.g., SAP). 

KORE is headquartered in New York City with software development offices in Vancouver, Canada, and regional offices in London and Hong Kong.

Russell Scibetti, VP Product Strategy, KORE:  “In a part of the industry that is often run on spreadsheets and decisions are made by gut feel, seeing one of the most iconic global brands investing in a system such as KORE demonstrates the ever-growing importance on data-driven decision making and leveraging technology for more efficiency and revenue growth.”

“With KORE ProSports, FC Barcelona will be able to streamline their communication, processes and data across their three offices around the world and impressive global partners to reach a new level of real-time insight into their business efforts.”

Location: Auckland, New Zealand

Closing Date: January 20, 2017

Overview:

Founded in 1887, Athletics New Zealand is New Zealand’s member of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) which provides the international pathway for our thousands of participants, officials, coaches and administrators.　 Athletics New Zealand is tasked with enhancing and promoting all aspects of athletics activity in New Zealand including track and field athletics, cross country running, mountain running, road running and walking and associated programmes and development initiatives.

Athletics New Zealand has a rich heritage of Olympic and Commonwealth Games success. Athletics New Zealand has spawned some of New Zealand’s sporting icons – Jack Lovelock, Peter Snell, John Walker and recently, Beatrice Faumuina, Nick Willis and Valerie Adams. They are part of the sporting fabric of New Zealand – literally – being the first New Zealand sport to wear the colour black in an international sporting context!

As a member of Paralympic New Zealand we are responsible for the Para Athletics High Performance Programme. The recent Paralympics in Rio saw six of our Para athletes return home with nine medals and, a total of fourteen top eight positions.

Working in a small, highly focused team environment, this hands-on position requires communication and administration capabilities with a high performance approach along with the specific knowledge of working with Para athletes and programmes, all within the rewarding context of a leading Olympic and Paralympic Sporting Organisation.

A background in a similar role in a membership, not-for-profit or sport organisation and/or experience in broader corporate service areas will be highly regarded. Having been involved in a Para Programme is an essential requirement.

This is a unique opportunity to have a positive impact on the successful operations of one of New Zealand’s most popular sports.

The full position details and application requirements can be found at:

www.athletics.org.nz/About-Us/Vacancies

 

How to apply: Please send applications directly to Scott Goodman, HP Director by close of business Friday 20 January 2017. This information should be sent electronically to scottg@athletics.org.nz with the subject identifier of the email to be formatted as follows: Para Programme Manager – Insert Your Name

Hardys Wine Company is to extend its sponsorship as the Official Wine of England Cricket until 2019, drugs The England and Wales Cricket Board announced.

Hardys, the UK’s largest wine brand, will continue to promote and sell their wines to fans at England’s home international fixtures as well as promoting their association with England Cricket through their advertising and marketing campaigns.

“As the UK’s number one wine brand, Hardys is delighted to renew its partnership with England Cricket. The next three years is an exciting time to be involved in the sport, with England hosting South Africa and India, ahead of the Ashes in 2019,” said Rob Harrison, Accolade Wines General Manager (UK & Ireland). 

The wine giant is the second most powerful Australian wine brand in the world, selling to over 140 countries worldwide.

“Over the past three years Hardys have built up strong relationships across cricket, drawing on their excellent knowledge of the game to create high quality and innovative promotional campaigns,” said Sanjay Patel, ECB Commercial Director.