by Jeff Lowe

Breeders’ Cup Ltd. has tightened its conditions for media credentials for the World Championships at Santa Anita Park in October, adding language to restrict the use of photographs for commercial purposes.

The company will require licensing permission for photos and other images captured by credentialed media at the Breeders’ Cup and used for anything other than editorial coverage within 30 days of the event.

Peter Land, whom the Breeders’ Cup hired as its chief marketing officer in October, said the restrictions are similar to media guidelines in place for golf’s U.S. Open and Ryder Cup and professional basketball’s NBA Finals.

“We wanted to bring the Breeders’ Cup more in line with other sort of global championship events,” said Land, who was the NBA’s director of marketing communications for five years in the 1990s after previously working as a sportswriter. “We did look at other events’ and properties’ credential language. We were able to get a sense of best practices, what’s worked and what hasn’t worked, and why.

“That’s how we updated our language, looking at the intellectual property side, the legal side, and we’re sensitive to the journalist’s side. It’s a combination of what language protects our intellectual property and protects our business interest and also is fair and responsible to the editorial coverage of our event.”

Land said licensing fees for commercial use of photos from the Breeders’ Cup most likely would be determined on a case-by-case basis. Media organizations using photos and images for editorial purposes after 30 days would not necessarily be charged. 
“Even though there is a 30-day sentence, it doesn’t mean you can’t use it after 30 days, you just need our permission,” Land said. “That’s opposed to somebody who might be selling a poster who didn’t get permission and is using the photography to make some money, without any kind of a royalty.

“It’s not directed at the journalism community. This is primarily directed at photographers. Mostly these kinds of credential languages are prepared to prevent someone from using the images outside of the media environment. We’ll have to go on a case-by-case basis. I think we’re looking at different prices for different purposes.”

Jeff Lowe is a Thoroughbred Times staff writer