"On Friday, the association [NCAA] did just that when the University of Louisville, acting on NCAA orders, evicted a credentialed reporter for The Louisville Courier-Journal from a baseball playoff game for doing his job. According to the NCAA, it would be fine for the reporter to write online about the atmosphere of a game, the mood of the fans, even the quality of the hot dogs in the stands. But mention that someone just hit a home run — information the NCAA wants to preserve for those that pay to broadcast games — and the reporter is outta there." (Inside Higher Ed, NCAA vs Blogger, 6/12/07)
Potential ramifications for not only NCAA and sports, but any other event where live blogging may occur, are widespread. Let's say, hypothetically, a presenter at ALA Annual is discussing a topic that has been submitted for publication. Is the session information copyrighted to the presenter? Or, is it free for public consumption once presented as long as bloggers cite the information and presenter?
Looking at the big picture it may not matter. Librarians are proponents of disseminating and presenting information. If those blogging live ask the presenter for permission to blog during their session, all will be well (if they say no, take notes and blog later). But as blogging continues to be a popular form of communicating information, we may need to revisit.
Update: 6/13/07
The Chronicle's Wired Campus Blog posted about this topic yesterday as well (guess my Bloglines account lagged a bit). Read more at No Blogging Allowed at College Sports. Additionally, the Chronicle article links to USA Today's Revoked Press Credential Spurs Blogging Question.
Tags: NCAA, NCAA and blogging, University of Louisville, Louisville Courier-Journal, Inside Higher Ed, Live blogging
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