KEY POINTS:
Brisbane's been hit by some devastating storms in the lead-up to the first cricket test between the Black Caps and Australia, but behind the closed gates of the Gabba ground another storm was brewing - one over copyright and media accreditation.
Disclaimers have appeared at the end of
match reports of the first cricket test between the Black Caps and Australia along these lines: "Coverage of the test has been affected by some news and photo agencies boycotting the match because of a dispute with Cricket Australia over media rights."
International agencies Reuters, the Associated Press, Agence France-Presse (AFP) and Getty Images are not covering the series in either words or photos in a repeat of their decision to suspend coverage last year.
The disagreement surrounds the syndication of images and stories to other publications.
Cricket Australia (CA) wants to retain complete control over words and images of "their product", with their spokesperson saying the stance was to protect their "legitimate commercial rights".
Last season the agencies did not report on the first Test involving Sri Lanka but an agreement was reached for the second match when Muttiah Muralitharan was nearing the world wicket-taking record.
News Limited papers were also locked out of the first day at the Gabba last year before resolving their issues with Cricket Australia.
Reuters published this on their news website today about the stand-off:
"Reuters has suspended coverage of cricket matches, training sessions and commercial events in Australia across text, pictures and TV.
"Reuters regrets this course of action. However, press freedom and protecting the interests and coverage rights of our global client base is of key importance to us.
"Faced with unacceptable accreditation terms for photographers and camera crews imposed by Cricket Australia, Reuters has decided to curtail coverage of Australian cricket, until such time as we are able to reach agreement with Cricket Australia.
"We hope to continue discussions with Cricket Australia with a view to resuming full coverage of global cricket as quickly as possible.
"While it is our sincere wish to provide the world's media with premium, timely text, photographs and TV, freedom of the press, intellectual property and our editorial integrity are at the core of our business, and these must be be respected."
NZPA is the news gathering source that many media in this country rely on for coverage.
They've been affected as well.
NZPA editor Nick Brown yesterday described Cricket Australia's terms as "unacceptable" and said that his organisation would be in breach of contract with clients, such as nzherald.co.nz, if it signed CA's terms and conditions.
He said NZPA would attempt to cover the test match from outside the ground in a similar fashion to Australian media outlets last year when they butted heads with CA in a similar dispute.