KEY POINTS:
MediaWorks, owner of TV3, has won an interim injunction against Sky's coverage of the Rugby World Cup.
TV3 issued proceedings in the High Court today saying it believed Sky was in serious breach of the rules surrounding "fair dealing" in its use of footage.
A full hearing of the injunction will take place on Friday.
The ruling imposes a ban on Sky including TV3 Rugby World Cup footage on The Cup, Rugby Highlights (channel 33) and Sport 365 Highlights.
"Clearly Justice Winkelmann agreed that there is a case to answer in relation to Sky's unauthorised use of our footage in a variety of programmes across various Sky channels," said TVWorks Chief Operating Officer Rick Friesen.
"The full hearing of the injunction application on Friday will be an excellent opportunity for us to fully disclose and explain our position in open court. We will seek a permanent injunction against all unauthorised use," said Mr Friesen.
"Our motivation in taking this action is to protect the enormous investment we have made in securing the rights to the Rugby World Cup so that all New Zealanders can enjoy the event live and free-to-air," Mr Friesen said.
"We appreciate the fact that TVNZ has honoured the agreement regarding news coverage of the Rugby World Cup. However Sky has used footage to which it has no rights beyond the scope of the news agreement," Mr Friesen said.
Two weeks before the World Cup kicked off, MediaWorks sent out an announcement to all major media outlets in New Zealand, warning them they were monitoring all coverage.
TV3 paid several million dollars for the exclusive New Zealand rights to broadcast television pictures of the World Cup.
"We are simply acting to protect our interests, and the interests of the viewing public, so that this event can remain as a free-to-air broadcast," Mr Friesen said earlier today.
MediaWorks said it had signed an agreement with TVNZ and Sky, allowing extended access to Rugby World Cup footage for news purposes.
It claimed Sky had used footage which went beyond that agreement.
Former TVNZ head of news Bill Ralston said during the Rugby World Cup in 2003, TV One had exclusive rights but came to an agreement with Sky to let them broadcast content outside news programmes.
"We allowed Sport 365, which theoretically is not a news programme, to broadcast some highlights from the World Cup. I remember from my time, TV3 pushed the boundary by taking a bit more than they should," Mr Ralston said.
He said all three networks tend to push the rules but everyone "relaxed the boundaries".
"Simply because Sky controls so many sports rights themselves, you can normally get a good quid pro quo out of them. You relax a bit, they relax a bit," Mr Ralston said.
He said when networks spend millions of dollars, they jealously guard their rights but this is the first time he remembers it going to court.
Sky TV was not returning calls this afternoon.
- NZHERALD STAFF
