By: The Illinois Press Association has accused a high-school sports regulator of violating the news media's constitutional rights by barring some photographers from the field during the state football championships.
The Illinois High School Association prohibited photographers from four newspapers from taking pictures on the field during the championships at the University of Illinois Memorial Stadium on Nov. 23 and 24, claiming it was upholding a policy on the sale of photographs for commercial use.
The photographers from the Bloomington Pantagraph, The (Springfield) State Journal-Register, the Arlington Heights Daily Herald and The (Crystal Lake) Northwest Herald were allowed into the pressbox and stands, but they were not given passes for the field.
Anthony Holman, assistant executive director for the IHSA, said the restrictions were placed on the newspapers after they failed to respond to letters telling them to stop selling photos from IHSA events.
"Essentially, all we did was say, 'This is our policy. We are reaffirming our policy,'" Holman told The (Champaign) News-Gazette.
A lawsuit against the IHSA filed by the IPA and two member newspapers this month was later dropped as the two parties reached a partial agreement. The suit had asked for a preliminary injunction barring enforcement of IHSA rules.
According to the lawsuit, IHSA contracted with Visual Image Photography Inc. for exclusive access to state-tournament sites; IHSA also required papers that wanted media passes to sign an agreement limiting their photo rights.
IPA executive director David L. Bennet said the IHSA's decision violates the partial-compromise "good-faith agreement" the two organizations reached after an earlier court hearing.
The crux of the dispute is the secondary use of press photographs ? any not printed in a traditional newspaper. Officials have said that will be addressed at a meeting in December.
IHSA Executive Director Marty Hickman said in a statement posted on the IHSA's Web site that the body wanted to give newspapers the chance to provide photos for their readers.
"It has become abundantly clear, however, that some members of the Illinois Press Association are more interested in the commercial photography business," he said.
Messages left by the Associated Press for the IHSA and IPA were not returned.
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