20080403

Websites to Carry the Olympics

LONDON (Reuters) - Web sites will be able to carry an unlimited amount of photos and news articles on the Beijing Olympics -- and those in Australia can even show short video clips for the first time -- as part of new media guidelines.

Two international sporting events were hit by rows with media groups in 2007 over major rights disputes, but updated rules from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for Beijing released on Tuesday appeared far more relaxed.

Under the rules, media organizations can use their own Web sites to carry written and photographic coverage of the Games as long as it is for normal journalistic and editorial use.

"The Internet is an important medium for the communication and promotion of sport and the Olympic Movement," the IOC said in the guidelines.

"The IOC understands that media organizations have integrated this medium in their business and will be feeding their own websites with Olympic-themed content to target the online audience and to better serve fans."

"Bona fide" news organizations will be allowed to broadcast via the Internet all or a portion of news conferences that take place in the Media Press Centre with a time delay of 30 minutes.

But the majority of sites will not be able to carry any other video or audio clips because this is covered by intellectual property rights granted to licensed rights-holders.


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