In Australia, Telstra has failed to win an injunction against Fox Sports to stop its website showing clips of National Rugby League (NRL) matches, with a judge deciding that “Telstra’s case against Premier Media Group and News Digital Media was not strong enough to warrant an injunction”. The case will be heard in full later this year, reports Australian IT. It’s a bit of a family spat with Telstra owning 50 percent of Foxtel, the rest owned by the people (Murdoch and Packer) who own Fox Sports. Telstra, which paid AU$90 million (about US$72 million) for a six-year NRL sponsorship deal, claims that only 45 seconds of matches can be shown, but the judge determined that the 2-minute clips on the Fox Sports site were used to report a news event and similar to what is shown on TV. He also noted that an internal Telstra memo indicated that 2-minutes can be considered fair usage.

Telstra plans to continue with the court case, and warned that if it ultimately lost “it would lead to “dramatic repercussions” for the code and the clubs”. It’s unclear what those repercussions could be, but if the case slips into what is considered fair use and what constitutes news reporting the outcome could have “dramatic repercussions” for far more than some sports reporting.

• Telstra Suing Partners Over Digital Rights
• Telstra Signs $70 Million NRL Deal
• Telstra Nearing US$70 Million Media Deal With Rugby League—Problems With Mobile Rights