IHSA Announcements

February 12, 2008

Information you won’t Find in most Illinois newspaperS ABout the Photo Dispute

Unfortunately, the conflict of interest that exists that precludes newspapers from fairly or fully reporting the issues presented by the Illinois Press Association's dispute with the IHSA also prevents most newspaper readers from considering all the issues at hand in an informed fashion. The recent flood of editorials and stories reporting this conflict is the result of an irresponsible, concerted effort by the Illinois Press Association urging its members to speak out against the IHSA and is clearly designed to shape public opinion by only presenting one side of the story. There are many items the press hasn’t reported to readers, including the following recommendations from the Illinois Press Association Board to its members: 

• “Consider boycotting the event.  A boycott could be accomplished by:  A) Boycotting the entire event and provide no coverage; or B) cover the event as news story but not publish any sports photos.  Obviously, this is a serious choice, and one that each newspaper will have to decide for itself.  If you choose to exercise either form of boycott, it would be important to explain to your readers that lack of coverage, or lack of photos, were made necessary by the Draconian practices of the IHSA.”
• “Consider having parents and high school students bring cameras to the event to shoot from the stands.  If the IHSA threatens them with expulsion from the event so much the better.”  

First, the IHSA has always welcomed and encouraged parents and students to take pictures of our events for their own personal use, and we have no intention of expelling them.

As for the threatened boycott, not reporting a story because of a challenge to an opportunity to profit, particularly at the expense of the IHSA and its member schools, is simply another example of the IPA putting its own self-interest and profit motives ahead of its members' obligations as responsible journalists.

The dispute stems from the IHSA's agreement with VIP Photography under which VIP is given exclusive rights to the commercial use of photos of IHSA State Tournament and other events. In exchange, VIP has agreed to provide the IHSA hundreds of thousands of event photos each year, free of charge, at an annual savings to the IHSA in the tens of thousands of dollars. Without the exclusive rights granted under the agreement, VIP would not be willing to provide this invaluable free service.

Regardless of how the Press Association wants to characterize the dispute, it is not one involving the First Amendment or Freedom of the Press. IHSA is not in any way regulating or restricting news coverage of its events or the ability to publish or circulate photos of those events. The law is clear that "freedom of the press" does not extend to protect the commercial use of photographs, nor does it protect a publisher's ability to profit at the expense of others. Moreover, in a recent letter to the Illinois Press Association, the IHSA indicated that newspapers could freely distribute photos, provided the photos were used for personal rather than commercial purposes. The IHSA also indicated that photo galleries on newspaper Web sites could contain an unlimited number of images from IHSA events. If the newspapers are interested in providing a community service, the opportunity clearly exists. It has become abundantly clear, however, that the Illinois Press Association and some of its members are more interested in the commercial photography business.   

The Illinois High School Association continues to be willing to sit down with the Illinois Press Association to resolve this ongoing conflict. However, the following actions by the Illinois Press Association have shown it is not interested in resolving this issue.           

• On August 9, 2007, the IHSA’s Executive Director met with representatives from the Illinois Press Association to discuss its concerns.
• At the conclusion of the meeting, everyone agreed that the Illinois Press Association would submit its concerns in writing to the IHSA.
• Rather than following the agreed upon plan to continue discussions, the Illinois Press Association filed a lawsuit against the IHSA.
• On November 5, 2007, a judge in Springfield denied the motion for a temporary restraining order filed by the Illinois Press Association.
• On November 14, 2007, representatives of the IHSA and the Illinois Press Association met in Lincoln, Illinois, at the urging of the judge. At that meeting, the IHSA presented the Illinois Press Association with a proposal. Following the meeting, Dave Bennett of the Illinois Press Association stated in a letter to the IHSA, “I was very pleased with the outcome of yesterday’s meeting, and have asked Don to withdraw the request for injunctive relief, until such time as the IPA Board has the opportunity to consider your proposal.  I need direction from my Board before I can respond to your proposal, and I simply can not do that by Thursday.”
• On November 15, 2007, IHSA Executive Director Marty Hickman stated the following in a letter to Dave Bennett. “We, too, are encouraged based upon the settlement discussions that have occurred to date… The IHSA remains committed to having additional dialogue so that we can bring this matter to resolution… Again, it is our hope that meaningful discussions will bring this matter to a close.”    
• To date, the Illinois Press Association has not responded to the proposal submitted by IHSA. 
• The Illinois Press Association has not filed suit against any public university in Illinois. Many have similar or identical policies, as do the NCAA, the Big Ten and virtually every other league and athletic sanctioning body and association. (Indeed, even the IPA members selling the photos in question bar resale of the photos.)  

The Illinois Press Association is now the force behind House Bill 4582. Their leadership continues to characterize this as a "freedom of the press" issue, but it’s not that at all; rather it has to do with their members' profit motives and, in particular, their desire to profit from reselling photos of IHSA events which will, in turn, cause significant harm and impose great expense on the IHSA.

If House Bill 4582 is passed it will likely end our tradition of providing live television coverage of March Madness and the IHSA Boys Football championship games as under the language of the proposed legislation, it would be a violation of the law for the IHSA to contract for coverage of such events. Each year, because of our ability to enter such contracts, our television coverage is accessible to millions of Illinois citizens. Our viewership has long enjoyed this coverage, but without the ability to regulate its distribution, we will be prevented from contracting for the coverage and it is very likely that we will no longer be able to televise events.  It is also clear this bill will lead to reducing our services, or necessitate passing on increased costs to our member schools while newspapers and other news media profit.

Other related concerns:

• Most schools in Illinois have contracts for yearbooks and other photography services. This bill will allow the media to sell photos that compete directly with a school’s contracted photography services.
• The bill only attempts to regulate elementary and secondary schools. It allows any public university to enforce its secondary use policy.  Many public universities have policies which are virtually identical to the IHSA’s policy.
• The IHSA and its member schools share all the effort, all the expense, and all the risk involved in putting on state series events.  Some newspapers simply want to cash in on these efforts.
• Many people believe that the IHSA is funded by the State of Illinois. That is simply not true. The IHSA is funded primarily by gate receipts collected at its events. Also, schools do not pay dues to the IHSA. The IHSA is a private, voluntary non-profit 501 (c) 3 organization. 
  

The Illinois Press Association now wants to do an end run around the judicial system. The Illinois Press Association initiated this legal battle even though the IHSA had committed to continuing the dialogue in an effort to resolve the matter. The judge in the case denied the Illinois Press Association's request for a temporary restraining order in November. Recognizing that under all established precedent, its legal case is weak, the Press Association is now turning to the Illinois General Assembly as opposed to continuing discussions with the IHSA. The IHSA continues to be willing to work towards a resolution.