“Federer Goffin ATP Finals”.

Enter. I get directed to a 3:13 long YouTube video by the official ATP channel. Out of three minutes, only two minutes were proper highlights and even within those two minutes were slow-mo replays that took up a third of the video in terms of length. While there’s no inherent problem with including the extras, a compromise on the length signifies a problem.

Let’s make some things clear: We can’t follow every match. It’s too difficult even if tennis is the only sport a person follows. This means there are hordes of people looking for highlights. And when you’re redirected to videos like these, it leaves you wanting for more, to put it gently.

Seeing that the ATP highlights are short with there being little to no replication of the flow of the match, there are several people on YouTube who make their own highlight videos. These videos often cross the ten minute threshold and are almost always uploaded soon after the match gets over. It is hard work. And it’s almost always taken down soon after it’s uploaded because it violates the copyright rules of YouTube and ATP Media. The highlights are usually re-uploaded after a buffer period, but by then the interest in the match is lost.

This is detrimental to fan interest in tennis, a sport that is dependent on its two flag bearers (Federer and Nadal) to pull viewers. And with their advancing age, the ATP should be looking for ways to improve fan interest rather than (seemingly unknowingly) help diminish it.

There are several unofficial highlight videos which have choppy frame rates and instances where many matches don’t have highlights at all, even by the ATP. Some highlight videos by the ATP themselves have choppy frame rates, which is unacceptable.

This problem seems simple enough, but it really isn’t. The solution seems obvious enough: Improve the quality and length of the official highlights, or let unofficial highlights be as is. Seeing how things are though, God forbid that the highlights cross the three minute mark. Think of all the broadcasting money they’ll lose!

The disclaimer put up by Court Level Tennis on YouTube.

Court Level Tennis and their run in with the ATP.

Court Level Tennis is a small YouTube channel that posts court level videos of practice sessions, practice matches and tournament matches. They take footage taken by fans and perhaps themselves and upload them on their YouTube channel.

In one of their videos of Karen Khachanov practicing, a notice was put up stating that they were at the brink of being sued for copyright infringement.

The ATPs approach is confusing. A video I capture is my property, and I should be able to do whatever I please with it. There’s some sense in them taking down footage of tour matches, since they’re broadcasted. I disagree on a grassroots level with regards to their approach, because these channels don’t make much bank. What is worse is the ATP taking down footage of practice videos, something they don’t even televise.

Shockingly, there are actual rules that forbid use of footage captured by you. Here’s an excerpt from the terms and conditions from the Australian Open website under their terms and conditions, the 17th point titled “Prohibited items”:

Camera tripods, monopods. telephoto camera lenses with a focal length capacity greater than 200mm; video cameras or handy-cams; audio recorders; any other devices used for recording or transmitting scoring data or other statistical information for commercial purposes (including sports betting)

Under the 20th point is a more direct message:

Use of Technology.

Photography: Images of the AO taken with a camera, mobile phone or other wireless device cannot be used for any purpose other than for private and domestic purposes. You must not sell, license, publish or otherwise commercially exploit photographs. Flash photography is not permitted in the court areas.

Video Footage: Taking and/or publishing video footage of any match play via any means is forbidden (including sharing to social media). For the avoidance of doubt, mobile telephones are permitted within the AO, provided that they are used for personal and private use only and are not used to record any match play.

Distribution: Production, transmission or distribution of broadcasts or narrowcasts of any images, footage, sounds or data from the AO or any match play comprising the AO by any means in any format or media is strictly forbidden.

Realising that the Australian Open doesn’t come under the ATP directly (the ITF governs the grand slams), I looked at the back of my ticket for the Tata Open Pune, an ATP 250 tournament which is a tune up to the Australian Open. It comes under the ATP and I found this: (The very first point).

This essentially means that the ATP is legally allowed to chomp down on the distribution of your property. As far as I know, the notice given to court level tennis is the first time the ATP has taken action to restrict court level footage being distributed. Either they were unaware of people sharing their footage on YouTube or that they “realised” that they were “losing” money because of it. Whatever it is, something needs to be done to combat the “screw fan interest” approach they’re taking.

Conclusion

There are several things that the ATP needs to rectify, and with pressures from top players for a set of demands of their own, I feel the ATP needs to introspect deeply and come up with a solution that is mutually agreeable.