IPL claims huge copyright violations

The Indian Premier League’s (IPL’s) strict guidelines for broadcast media could hardly deter copyright infringements and it had to contend with a large number of “unauthorised” videos and live feeds during its second edition in South Africa this year.

Over 2,400 unauthorised live streaming feeds and over 6,700 unauthorised videos on the web were pulled down, while over 1,300 pirated blogs or websites were shut down, the IPL organisers said.

According to the organisers, there were 36 instances of ambush marketing or trademark infringement that were successfully processed, while over 2,800 hours of clips were shown across 109 channels which “was in violation of broadcast media guidelines”.

IPL Chairman Lalit Modi has vowed to address the issue with the News Broadcasters Association.

At the IPL’s Governing Council meeting yesterday, Modi said the event’s viewership shot up from 102 million in 2008 to 123 million this year. Modi also said IPL generated the same amount of interest as matches played by the Indian team.

Modi also said IPL’s broadcast partner, Sony, has doubled its revenue. The IPL chief said there has been a whopping 310 per cent increase in the delivered sponsor value and the IPL brand has delivered assets comparable to any of the global sports properties.