Cricket Australia threatens to ban journalists

Cricket Australia has threatened to ban journalists from News Ltd from access to the third Test at Perth in a dispute over the online use of match highlights.

CA is upset at footage being used on the Fox Sports website, and it warned newspaper websites to stop linking to Fox Sports coverage or risk their journalists being barred from entry to the WACA, The newspapers which would be affected include The Australian, Brisbane's Courier-Mail, Melbourne's Herald Sun, Sydney's Daily Telegraph and Adelaide Advertiser.

"The bottom line is if we cannot reach agreement on how our intellectual property is being used then we will withhold the right of entry to grounds," Peter Young, spokesman for the Australian board, said.

It has also emerged that CA threatened to ban News Ltd journalists from the Adelaide press box for the fourth and fifth days of the second Test but later backed down. Other media organisations are believed to have agreed to CA's requests.

CA has requested that online video coverage of the Ashes be limited to a maximum of 30 seconds and not to play them until at least one hour after the close of play. Some websites have been running up to three minutes a day

News Ltd, however, seemed to be in no mood to back down. "A vast body of people can't sit and watch TV all day long and they go to sites they trust," group editorial manager Warren Beeby said, adding that the contest was news that fell within the provisions of fair rights for news organisations to bring to the public.