da dobrowin： Sri Lanka’s national radio broadcaster resumed its ball-by-ball commentaryof the ICC Champions Trophy on Friday after intervention from the Supreme Court
CricInfo20-Sep-2002Sri Lanka’s national radio broadcaster resumed its ball-by-ball commentaryof the ICC Champions Trophy on Friday after intervention from the Supreme Court.The International Cricket Council (ICC) is trying to stop Sri LankaBroadcasting Corporation (SLBC) from producing audio commentary withoutbroadcasting rights.SLBC were offered official radio rights by the rights holder, a companycalled Freschia that has acquired Sri Lankan and Pakistan radio rights forthe ICC Champions Trophy and the ICC World Cup.But instead SLBC produced an “off-tube” broadcast, creating the commentaryfrom a television feed in their studio and refusing to purchase officialrights, claiming they were acting in the public’s interest.ICC lawyers, flown out from England and India, argued that SLBC was makingillegal profits from the live commentaries and demanded US $ 70,000 ascompensation.The ICC sought and won an injunction in the Commercial High Court onThursday afternoon, forcing the SLBC to halt the commentary mid-way throughAustralia-Bangladesh game.However, SLBC took the issue up with the Supreme Court, which suspended theearlier injunction pending a full inquiry on September 23. SLBC were forcedto lodge a USD $ 10,000 bond with the court.SLBC Director General Nimal Lakshapathiarachchi immediately informed themedia that the commentaries would resume during South Africa’s clash againstKenya on Friday.In the 2000 European Championships the BBC, the official rights holder, wereunable to obtain an injunction against TalkSport who produced a similaroff-tube broadcast.The matter was settled out of court before a full trial. Press reports atthe time suggested that TalkSport had agreed to label all future off-tubebroadcasts as such, producing disclaimers at specified intervals in theaction.