SPRINGFIELD, IL (February 22, 2008) - A representative of the Illinois Press Association today told IPA members that the Illinois High School Association will allow photographers with valid press credentials to have access to the floor at the girls state basketball finals in Bloomington this weekend without being required to sign IHSA's waivers or releases.
An IHSA official said that the organization is standing by its existing media policy even though they are allowing photojournalists with credentials floor access, and that the host school for the state's swimming finals in Evanston this upcoming weekend have been informed of the change too.
IPA attorney Don Craven suggests that IPA members "take advantage of the floor access. Doing so will not weaken our position in court or in the legislature." IPA director of government relations said in an eMail to IPA members today that even with photographers being allowed floor or courtsie access to these state championships, the IPA is still not going to wave their underlying complaint that any existing restrictions are invalid.
In January, Illinois lawmakers got involved in the fight over whether the IHSA can prevent newspaper photographers from covering public school academic and sporting championship events games, and whether they can regulate the secondary use of photographs and videos that come from the events.
Two Illinois lawmakers, Rep. Joseph M. Lyons (D-Chicago) and Sen. James A. DeLeo (D-Chicago), proposed legislation intended to resolve the conflict and to keep it from happening again. House Bill 4582, if voted on and signed into law, will provide open access to all competitions, from elementary school to high school levels, including sports and academic activities.
In November 2007 the IPA, representing Illinois newspapers, sued the IHSA over the issue of access to high school championship events and photo sales. The parties said they were trying to reach an out of court settlement on the issue of "secondary use" of images right up until the end of November, when several Illinois newspapers were surprised to find that their photographers were shut out from the eight championship football games and the title games because IHSA said they were not "in compliance" on the issue of print sales.
In December 2007 the IHSA filed a counter suit in Sangamon County Circuit Court in Springfield asking a judge to declare that IHSA has the exclusive right to sell photographs taken at high school sporting events, and the right to impose limits on how newspapers use photographs, and for permission to restrict newspapers' access to IHSA games if editors and publishers fail to comply with IHSA polices.
The countersuit named IPA, the Peoria Journal Star, The State Register-Journal in Springfield, and The Northwest Herald in Crystal Lake, and asked for at lease $50,000 in damage payments. An IHSA statement issued after the suit was filed said the action was necessary "to bring a definitive resolution" to the dispute.
IPA filed a motion to dismiss, stating that IHSA is a "state actor" and therefore bound by the Illinois constitution regarding freedom of the press and free speech guarantees, and as such they cannot exert "prior restraint" upon newspapers in both their coverage and dissemination of photography of newsworthy events, and that IHSA has no cause of action against the newspapers, and that IHSA cannot legally contract with a third party granting exclusive license to cover public events.
IHSA has had a contract with a third party - Visual Image Photography Inc. of Cedarburg, WI - since 2001. The agreement grants the commercial photography business "exclusive rights" to take and sell photographs from state athletic championship games.
IPA's motion to dismiss also claims that IHSA's contract with VIP Inc. is "against public policy" and that as a result there have been actual damages to the newspapers (monetary loss) while the newspapers were engaged in the constitutionally privileged activity of gathering news.
