Broadcasting F1

[Cougar]

I cant recall ever seeing this as a topic of discussion.

My question is why is there no dedicated place on the web which broadcasts F1 or even has radio commentry.

Is this a cost issue? Licence issue? Surely there is a big market for this.

Your views?

[Asp]

I seen to remember it's a licence issue - the licences are given only for the particular country.
For that reason BBC 5Live Sports Extra didn't broadcast the extra sessions on the web when they were available on the channel itself.
At least that's how I understand it - I await being corrected!

[Kicking-back]

The radio broadcasters rights do not allow them to put it on the internet.

And as far as I know, the FIA has never sold the rights for web audio of F1.

Maybe they should do!

[Super Tourer]

Down to the licence agreements that BE holds as the commerical rights owner. You can hear the races on Radio5live on their website.

Is there a market for it though?

If one were to start it would have to pay BE a fortune for the rights and it would inevitably be a subscription or PPV site. Bearing in mind that BE's Digital TV PPV buisness model didn't work, and that Kirch Media collapsed after failing to recoup the amount it paid for F1 TV rights (among others). I think any other medium carrying F1 commercially in the near future is unlikely.

[Cougar]

What is stopping me or anyone else from broadcasting an audio stream of comentry on the net only? Are licences needed for this? Who governs that?

[Super Tourer]

(IIRC) Everything that happens on the track is the property of BE - he owns the commerical rights to it and sells the licenses to boradcasters. He protects the rights very strictly, I would imagine if anyone were to broadcast F1 without a licence it would be a quick visit to the courtroom.

[xterra48]

I think if someone wanted to watch the world feed and record a comentary track for dissemination through the internet, there is nothing BE could do about that. In fact i challenge someone to start a F1 podcast, nothing illegal about that.

[Kicking-back]

Originally Posted by xterra48

I think if someone wanted to watch the world feed and record a comentary track for dissemination through the internet, there is nothing BE could do about that.

There most certainly is.

Those of us in broadcasting who pay huge sums for the rights to things tend to get a bit annoyed at pirates.

[xterra48]

but their not broadcasting per say. 1 it wouldnt be live. second you are only providing a comentary that would compliment race footage. Third this would provide an interesting mix, you could tape the race and play it the the sound off, and listen to the mp3 commentary from your favorite internet blogger/personality.

As far as i know the only things illegal to download are
child porn
copyrighted material , which a homemade mp3 track certinly is not.

[Dixie Flatline]

It is an interesting question.

Copyright law in Australia and in the UK gives the copyright owner a set of exclusive rights, and any one of those rights are infringed if a second person exercises one of those rights without permission from the copyright owner in relation to a substantial part of the copyrighted work.

IMHO, if the broadcast rights owner believes it is losing a substantial amount due to the second broadcast, it would try to close down the broadcast potentially on the grounds of copyright infringement, because "substantial part" is judged on a qualitative, not quantitative basis. If the Court concludes that the second broadcast reproduces a substantial part of the original copyrighted broadcast, then it might find there is copyright infringement.

This is a gross simplification, and has come off the top of my head, so I might be completely wrong in this simple analysis.

I know that in relation to the AFL Grand Final, a local radio station in Melbourne used to watch the television coverage of the game and have a couple of comedians broadcast what was going on, obviously in a comedic manner. As far as I know, no action was taken against them because (a) their market penetration was small, and (b) it was quite obviously being played for laughs and nobody would take their commentary as seriously describing the action.

[Mosport67]

I think the rights holder can control who disttibutes what. Anything more than private use would breach a condition of your ticket.

[Dixie Flatline]

That's true. The Grands Prix Act 1994 (Vic) has provisions in relation to making money out of unauthorised video recordings of the event.

However, as far as I understand the legislation, it would not apply to simply re-broadcasting something off a television screen. But that is not to say that the broadcast rightsholder wouldn't have other avenues to pursue in order to close down the broadcast and obtain damages.

[Logrence]

But if someone on 10-10ths for instance was watching the F1 on the telly and putting their own commentary out on the internet - there's nothing to stop that, is there?

[Sodemo]

Im sure Bernie is working on a way to make videotaping F1 races illegal...

[Kicking-back]

Originally Posted by Logrence

But if someone on 10-10ths for instance was watching the F1 on the telly and putting their own commentary out on the internet - there's nothing to stop that, is there?

Yes.

It's a breach of the broadcasting rights.

You'd be broadcasting "a product" which you're not paying the rights holder for.

[Logrence]

You wouldn't be broadcasting the F1, just talking about it - I don't mean anything like the sound off the television or anything...where's the line between talking about F1 and broadcasting it?

If I go to Speakers' Corner and say that Michael Schumacher is overrated can I get done for copyright?

If 10-10ths is classed as media as far as court cases are concerned, where does it fall as far as the broadcasting of its product is concerned?

[Kicking-back]

Speakers corner is not broadcasting!

Distributing it by electronic means to an audience would be - although it would be difficult to determine the difference between a private conversation and one made available to anyone.

A "race commentary" ie describing the action as it happens would not be allowed, whereas a general chat about F1, when a race is not taking place, would be.

[Sodemo]

So is the ten-tenths chat illegal then?
If someone is telling other members what is happening via the radio, typing out what is happening, is that illegal?

[Kicking-back]

The ten-tenths chat is not illegal, no.