Australian Football League clubs have been warned they "risk infringing copyright laws should they produce video clips for the ground scoreboard" without a license, according to Jon Pierik of THE AGE. AFL Manager for Attendance & Experience Alistair Dobson "wrote to clubs on Wednesday outlining the need to follow protocols." A "more fan-friendly environment for home teams" has been embraced by league headquarters. Dobson said in the letter, "The AFL has a licence agreement with APRA which covers playing live and recorded music before, during and after the match, as well as background music at stadiums, including in corporate boxes and functions. ... The APRA licence does not ordinarily cover music incorporated into video clips played on the video scoreboard on match days." Clubs have been told it is "unlikely" they will need a license should there be a song played over the public address system with "live vision on the scoreboard of, for example, the players warming up, but if clubs opt to produce a pre-recorded video clip," it's "likely" a license will be required. AFL GM of Broadcasting Simon Lethlean also informed clubs on Wednesday that "an in-principle agreement between the AFL Coaches Association and Fox Footy to have coaches sit alongside each other in post-match press conferences would not go ahead." Coaches and clubs "were reminded it was not their place to broker broadcasting agreements with the major networks" (THE AGE, 3/19).
