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Archive 2008 · NCAA rules selling photos allowed?
  
 
dmldl123
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p.1 #1 · NCAA rules selling photos allowed?


I have a little bit of looking around and have not found an answer yet. As a student in college and also a photographer for the student newspaper I need a question answered. I mainly shoot sports for the newspaper and I have had athletes ask me about buying photos. I figured there was some set of rules with the NCAA about selling photos/making money off the athletes?

Can anyone clarify for me. As a student it would be nice to make extra money on the side with this, but I don't want to be doing anything I shouldn't be.

I wasn't sure if I could post this in the Sports section so I left it here...

Apr 19, 2008 at 05:02 AM
Russ Isabella
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p.1 #2 · NCAA rules selling photos allowed?


The rules are, at best, open to interpretation. And the interpretation most imporant to you is that of the college you shoot for. One thing is for certain: you cannot sell these photos without the permission of the school, since it's their scholarship athletes (assuming D-I or D-II) and their logo/insignia you are selling. If the school's compliance department says it's okay, that tells you they've interpreted the NCAA's rules to say it's okay. The other issue you have to deal with is whether it's cool with your newspaper for you to be selling "on the side" photos you've taken for the paper. I would assume that your credentials are for editorial, not commercial purposes.

Edited on Apr 19, 2008 at 06:20 AM


Apr 19, 2008 at 06:19 AM
mdude85
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p.1 #3 · NCAA rules selling photos allowed?


As Russ said, it is typically up to interpretation by the Institution as the NCAA has been very vague about specifically outlining the rules for sale of photos of eligible players to themselves, parents, fans, etc. Interestingly though, the NCAA is able to, at any point, over-ride the interpretation of the Institution according to NCAA interpretation. This rarely happens though. The NCAA wants to keep its hands clean of situations like these because, quite frankly, these situations is meddlesome.

To add to what Russ already said, you should first take a look at your credentials to see if they have noted anything about private use. Next you should call your Institution, preferably ask to speak to more than one person (including the compliance officer if that person is on-hand) to get a definitive answer. If you are still unclear, then you should call the NCAA -- which is likely to refer you back to your Institution.

Some relevant information in the NCAA manual 2007 is in 12.5.1 - 12.5.2. Entire NCAA manual 2007 is available online.



Apr 19, 2008 at 03:30 PM
ericevans
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p.1 #4 · NCAA rules selling photos allowed?


I have done a few NCAA shoots . They allowed me to sell prints to the people that were in the photo , editorial use and they got the usage they needed . That was it . You could get sued if they catch you profiting off of them and forget about ever shooting a event again .

Apr 20, 2008 at 09:31 AM
dmldl123
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p.1 #5 · NCAA rules selling photos allowed?


Thank you everyone for your advice, I will definitely look into it further with my university.

I have a question for ericevans:

you say "they allowed me to sell prints to the people that were in the photo" but you said "you could get sued if the catch you profiting off of them"

Is that not contradictory?

Apr 21, 2008 at 01:40 AM
 



ericevans
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p.1 #6 · NCAA rules selling photos allowed?


dmldl123 wrote:
Thank you everyone for your advice, I will definitely look into it further with my university.

I have a question for ericevans:

you say "they allowed me to sell prints to the people that were in the photo" but you said "you could get sued if the catch you profiting off of them"

Is that not contradictory?

Reasonable fees were charged and they were fine with it . If I sold to a person that was not in the print there would have been hell to pay . They do not want people setting up accounts to sell prints of players , as long as the player was in the photo they had no issue .

Apr 21, 2008 at 07:38 AM
mdude85
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p.1 #7 · NCAA rules selling photos allowed?


dmldl123 wrote:
Thank you everyone for your advice, I will definitely look into it further with my university.

I have a question for ericevans:

you say "they allowed me to sell prints to the people that were in the photo" but you said "you could get sued if the catch you profiting off of them"

Is that not contradictory?


Kind of a "don't ask, don't tell" policy for the NCAA. They will take action against egregious offenses but no large organization wants to be hit with the financial strain of engaging in a lawsuit with a private individual, not to mention the bad press it generates.


Apr 21, 2008 at 11:02 AM
Steve Ickes
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p.1 #8 · NCAA rules selling photos allowed?


I shot a lot of NCAA Division III football this past season. During the regular season NCAA left it to each school's discretion whether or not to allow online sale of images. However, once they were in the playoffs NCAA seemed to rule the land. Now granted they may not be as tight about Division III as they would be about Division I but again, had no problems at all during the regular season. Just make sure you're working closely with the schools AD.

As already pointed out, since you are shooting for the school paper you'd better check with them too. If you cover a game on behalf of the paper, I would assume that they retain rights to all images shot. But again, you won't know until you ask.

Apr 21, 2008 at 02:16 PM
mdude85
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p.1 #9 · NCAA rules selling photos allowed?


Steve Ickes wrote:
I shot a lot of NCAA Division III football this past season. During the regular season NCAA left it to each school's discretion whether or not to allow online sale of images. However, once they were in the playoffs NCAA seemed to rule the land. Now granted they may not be as tight about Division III as they would be about Division I but again, had no problems at all during the regular season. Just make sure you're working closely with the schools AD.

As already pointed out, since you are shooting for the school paper you'd better check with them too. If you cover a game on behalf of the paper, I would assume that they retain rights to all images shot. But again, you won't know until you ask.


Steve Ickes wrote:
If you cover a game on behalf of the paper, I would assume that they retain rights to all images shot. But again, you won't know until you ask.


It depends -- for instance for the paper I shot for, the school actually retained rights to the photos, even though the school did not provide the equipment nor the means to obtain credentials. The credentials were given out by the AD, which was a separate legal entity from the school itself (this is Div 1A).

This generated a pretty big stink among the staff, but the school never pursued individuals who use images from games for commercial use. It's just not worth the time and expense.

BTW, NCAA always has the lay of the land but as you said they grant some level of discretionary authority to the institution until the stakes get too high (such as in high-profile playoffs)


Edited on Apr 21, 2008 at 04:34 PM


Apr 21, 2008 at 04:33 PM
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