Viacom18 lays guidelines for usage of FIFA World Cup 2022 clips for news channels

Viacom18, the exclusive media rights partner of FIFA World Cup 2022 in India, has issued News Access Rules for the use of FIFA World Cup match content by news broadcasters.

Mentioned below are the rules:

1. A news broadcaster may broadcast a maximum of sixty seconds of match content per match and a maximum of ninety seconds of match content in total per news day during its regular news programmes and other news programmes.

2. The broadcast of any match content may be repeated during a news day provided always that the total number of broadcasts of such match content is restricted to a maximum of two exhibitions per hour of broadcasting.

3. The use by a news broadcaster of live match content is not permitted at any time under any circumstances. Match Content may only be exhibited with a minimum of at least thirty minutes delay following the broadcast of any live match content by the official broadcaster before any extract of such match content is used by the news broadcaster.

However, news broadcasters are permitted to interrupt regular news programmes and/or other news programmes to broadcast match content using the caption “Breaking News” or such equivalent, only for a period not exceeding fifteen seconds and for no more than one exhibition of match content within thirty minutes following the broadcast of such live match content by the official broadcaster, to report the achievement of an important personal milestone by a footballer (for example, a hat-trick of goals being scored or a player breaking a competition goal-scoring record) or other exceptional events that may occur during the Match.

“For the avoidance of doubt, a single goal being, unless it completes a hat-trick of goals by the football in the match or completes a very significant career milestone by the footballer, does not constitute an important personal milestone for these purposes and the scoring of a single goal is not in itself an exceptional event occurring during the Match. Accordingly, a news broadcaster is not permitted to briefly interrupt regular news programmes and/or other news programmes to use match content to report such an event or other similar events,” added Viacom18. 

4. All Match Content must be used “as is”, without alterations or modifications, subject only to editing to meet time constraints for news bulletins, and shall be used within twenty-four hours of the completion of the match to which it relates. It is expressly clarified that news broadcasters are not permitted to use match content after the expiry of a News Day.

5. Match content may only be used in regular news programmes or other news programmes for news reporting of the results of a match and not for the purpose of analysis (including by way of review or comments by experts, ex-footballers, anchors, analysts or presenters).

6. News broadcasters are not permitted to use any match content to make their own compilation or ‘mix’ the match content with match content from other television events, sports events, documentaries, interviews, etc.

7. The official broadcaster has the exclusive rights from FIFA to produce and broadcast, inter alia, studio-based programmes in relation to the competition. It is clarified that under no circumstance shall any content from such programmes either be considered as ‘match content’ under these rules or used by a news Broadcaster in any manner whatsoever.

Advertising and commercial activity

1. A news broadcaster shall not carry any advertising, broadcast sponsorship, sting, logo, graphic and/or any other commercial activity (including on a ticker) whatsoever immediately before, immediately after, or during the broadcast of match content (or any clip thereof) in a regular news programme or other news programme and no association shall be created, suggested or implied between the use of match content and any third party brand or product.

“By way of illustration only, a News channel shall not use match content as part of a regular news programme or other news programmes which promotes a third-party brand or product by way of side screens, interview backdrops, by the programme anchors or any other form of logo or product placement activity,” said Viacom18.

2. No match content shall be broadcast within a regular news programme or other news programmes that show any advertisement, including on a ticker:

(i) which advertisement has been solicited by or from any third party to be put on air specifically during any such Regular News Programme or Other News Programme which reports news about the Competition

(ii) for which advertisement a special premium has been paid by a third party to the News Broadcaster to broadcast such advertisement during such Regular News Programme or Other News Programme which reports news about the Competition.

3. Regular news programmes or other news programmes that use match content are not permitted to have a ‘title’ or other sponsor and no advertisement may be used or repeated in the regular advertising breaks in such a manner as to create, suggest or imply an association between the advertiser and the match content or the competition.

4. News Broadcasters shall not carry any advertising, sting, logo, graphic or any other commercial activity, including on a ticker, immediately before, immediately after or during any ‘player-of-the-day’, ‘goal-of-the-day’, ‘save-of-the-day’ or similar feature relating to the Match or the Competition.

5. No advertising, sting, logo, graphic or any other commercial activity (including on a ticker) shall be carried immediately before, immediately after or during such Other News Programme making use of Match Content.

6. Provided that a news channel complies in full with the other restrictions applicable to the use of Match Content as set out in these Rules, a News Broadcaster may, in respect of a Regular News Programme within which Match Content is broadcast, carry advertisements in the regular course, through normal advertising breaks or tickers usual in the programming of news channels.

Simulcasting of regular news programmes and other news programmes

News Broadcasters are permitted to stream live simulcasts of Regular News Programmes and Other News Programmes containing Match Content, provided that the content being streamed is the exact replica of the news channel containing the Regular News Programme or Other News Programme carried on the News Broadcaster’s news channel, broadcast simultaneously with its television news broadcast and such simulcasting is customarily provided by the channel for all content that it broadcasts in the ordinary course.

News Broadcaster shall not broadcast Match Content, whether as part of any news bulletin or otherwise, on its own official website and/or official mobile application, or as part of any video-on-demand service and shall not under any circumstances broadcast Match Content via its official account or otherwise on a third-party video-upload/ or streaming platform or third party social media platform such as YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Daily Motion, Instagram, etc.

Credits and courtesy bugs

Courtesy bugs acknowledging the official channel and platform and FIFA must be pasted by a news broadcaster, with due prominence, throughout the broadcast of any match content.

News broadcasters must use the correct name of the competition (being ‘FIFA WORLD CUP QATAR 2022™’) and the competition logo in any and all broadcasts in which the competition is mentioned or referred to, whether or not including the broadcast of any match content.

Usage of match content shall be monitored by a designated monitoring agency on behalf of the Official Broadcaster and the Official Broadcaster expressly reserves all of its legal rights and remedies against News Broadcasters in respect of any and all breaches or violations of these Rules.

Viacom18 concluded, “Any use of match content in the territory beyond the scope permitted under these rules and the applicable laws, if not under a bilateral agreement between the relevant news broadcaster and the official broadcaster, will be treated as a violation of the rules and the news broadcaster shall be subject to legal action brought directly against it by the official broadcaster for such overuse.”

Info@BestMediaInfo.com