Sharing sports clips in the digital age: 6 things you should know

The way sport is being reported, broadcast, accessed and consumed is changing. One notable trend is the emergence of new technology, and in particular social media platforms and networks which allow fans to capture, upload and share short videos of sports content online via websites or apps. 

The phenomenon of using smart devices to watch and share clips of sporting action (whether goals, wickets, tries, sendings off or other incidents) has hit the headlines recently,¹ after the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and Sky were successful in their copyright infringement claim against sports mobile social network, Fanatix. The Fanatix platform allowed users to upload short clips of sports broadcast footage recorded from fans' phones.

This blog looks at some of the key issues for sport’s key stakeholders. Whether you’re a sports rights holder or broadcaster, social media platform or network, or a fan with a smart device, here are 6 things to bear in mind.

1. Is uploading a clip recorded from a TV broadcast an infringement?

Broadcasters of sports events in the UK enjoy copyright protection in transmitted programmes as broadcast works. Fans videoing, editing, uploading and/or distributing clips of sporting action from live footage may therefore be infringing the broadcaster’s copyright.