WIAA sued over right to cover high school athletic events

The Wisconsin Newspaper Association and Garnett Co. are going head to head with the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association about their right to cover high school sporting events.

The WNA claims the WIAA is violating newspapers' rights under the Copyright Act by granting exclusive contracts to private companies covering tournament events.

WIAA spokesman Todd Clark declined to comment, saying he hadn't seen the WNA's counterclaim. Jerry O'Brien, an attorney representing the WIAA, said he had a chance to scan the filing but would need time before he'd be able to comment on specifics of the case.

The WIAA filed its lawsuit in December against the WNA and Gannett, which owns The Post-Crescent of Appleton, after the newspaper's Webcast of a high school playoff game Nov. 8.

The WIAA says one of its contracted private partners owned the Webcast rights to the event and is owed a fee. But WNA lawyers contend that the host schools, all public, didn't object when The Post-Crescent streamed the game and three others over the Internet.

What are your thoughts about the WIAA's move to give exclusive rights for high school events to private companies? Isn't it the right of the newspaper to cover these events? And is it even the WIAA's right to do that since it's public high schools that are hosting events?