MILWAUKEE — Ownership of scholastic athletics coverage is at stake in a legal tussle brewing over a Wisconsin newspaper’s decision to carry a high school football game live on its Web site last fall.

The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association sued The Post-Crescent of Appleton and parent Gannett Co. as well as the Wisconsin Newspaper Association after the newspaper carried the state playoff game on its site Nov. 8.
The association said it believes it owns the rights to the online footage because it organized, supervised and sponsored the football tournament. The lawsuit, which is scheduled for trial Feb. 8, also said the association’s ability to generate revenue needs to be protected. The association has a $7.1 million budget this year.
WIAA executive director Doug Chickering said the association is seeking only a ruling about its role and rights, not monetary damages.
Dan Flannery, executive editor of The Post-Crescent, said local sporting events represent the essence of local news coverage, and media outlets should be able to provide Internet coverage the same way they write stories or produce videos.
“We believe news organizations should be free to cover news with whatever technologies are at our disposal,” Flannery said Monday. “We don’t believe it’s WIAA’s jurisdiction to tell us how to operate our business.”
The newspaper wants the court to recognize that the WIAA is working on behalf of public schools and declare its no-bid, long-term contracts for TV coverage and photography unconstitutional.
Peter Fox, executive director of the Wisconsin Newspaper Association, said the case “has advanced further in the legal system than in any other state.”
Athletic associations and newspaper groups elsewhere are closely watching.
“If newspapers lose in Wisconsin, I’ll assume my (athletic association) will come back and start playing hardball again,” said Paula Casey, Arizona Newspaper Association executive director.
Arizona has a truce in place regarding coverage policies, but hasn’t looked into the issue of live webcasts or blogging.
The Illinois High School Association and the Illinois Press Association agreed last year to keep the IHSA from regulating the use of newspaper photos or other products at games and events.
“Fundamentally, this comes down to TV revenue for the associations,” said Don Craven, an attorney who worked for the IPA and helped settle the dispute two years ago. “They don’t own a commodity to sell, market or otherwise control. They should put on a very nice tournament and get out of the news business.”
Professional sports leagues and media organizations, too, have had conflicts over various aspects of game coverage online.
In the Wisconsin case, the WIAA initially sought ownership rights for writing, photography, video and any Internet form of journalism from live blogging to webcasts when it filed suit in December. It was later moved to federal court and the WIAA now seeks only online rights.
The Associated Press has pledged financial support to the WNA and Gannett if the case goes to trial.