Free the Fixtures
FA tar idiotin till nya nivåer! Nu vill man ha betalt för att supportersidor publicerar spelschemat utan tillstånd (och betald avgift).
Ibland så ser/hör man saker som får en att dubbelkolla almanackan om man missat att det är den 1:a April. Denna gång är det the Football Association som slår till med följande email som skickades till våra vänner Tom & Mike som driver FulhamUSA.com.
Dear Sirs,
DataCo_NBCAD_13665
We write on behalf of the Football Data Co Limited which is the appointed licensee of the FA Premier League, the Football League, the Scottish Premier League and the Scottish Football League ("the Leagues") in respect of the licensing of certain intellectual property rights of the Leagues, including those in the fixture lists for this season August 2007 - May 2008 ("the Fixture Lists"), for use by third parties.
We have noticed that your website http://www.fulhamusa.com/ is displaying Football Fixtures. In order to display the Fixture Lists you must obtain the necessary licence from the Press Association.
We wish to make you aware that we have a good faith belief that your present use is an infringement of the Leagues' legal rights and that all such unauthorised use must cease immediately. Please confirm by return your agreement to this and give your undertaking to cease all such infringements on any and all of your web sites. Pending your response the Leagues' rights are fully reserved.
The Leagues have appointed the Press Association as their official agent for the licensing and distribution of the Fixtures List. If you have inadvertently infringed our clients' copyright please take immediate steps to contact the Press Association (Email customer.services@pa.press.net) to obtain the appropriate licence. Please confirm to us by e-mail that you are now seeking an appropriate licence. Because of the time sensitive nature of the Fixture Lists you are required to remove them immediately from your site pending the granting of a licence.
We thank you for your cooperation.
Yours sincerely,
Adam Zaki
Jag vet inte hur ni reagerar över tonen i brevet och framförallt dess budskap? Jag blir dock mest förbannad över hur man ens kan antyda att ett spelschema skulle omfattas av copyrightskyddande lagstiftning. Det stämmer säkert, men hur resonerar man om man tror att enskilda supporterhemsidor skulle kunna ha råd med följande priser.
Sidor som vill publicera spelschemat har tre olika paket att välja mellan:
1) Become the clubs nominated fanzine and get a licence for the fixtures for £1+VAT and a delivery charge to your site £104+ VAT, delivery via email!
A total of £123
2) Get authorisation from the club to use their fixtures in isolation. This would be £266+VAT plus delivery charge
A total of £435
3) Without authorisation from the club you must buy fixtures for all clubs - this is £4244+VAT for the licence and £5200+VAT for delivery
A total of nearly £12,000
Om ni som jag tycker att detta är helt absurt så skriv gärna på uppropet mot idiotin på Freethefixtures.com
