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BGonline.org Forums
Not even close to a professional athletic event
Posted By: David Rockwell In Response To: Not even close to a professional athletic event (rory)
Date: Monday, 4 May 2009, at 11:45 a.m.
Chess professionals have often wanted to have their transcripts suppressed so that other players don't know what openings they are playing. This knowledge can be used to prepare to play them. They have also wanted to control their transcripts so that they could be paid for them. They have failed. In the US and the Western world in general, transcripts of the game have been deemed to NOT be the property of the players. Anyone who possesses a transcript may legally do what they like with them. (I believe that in Japan the opposite is true with Go and Shogi transcripts. Those are the legal property of the players.) Suppressing a transcript is similar to a person who makes a public speech and then tries to keep a reporter who was present from reporting on the event. There is no legal basis for this.
A player may have a case if he tries to suppress the actual vidiotape of a recording since that is the use of his likeness. I believe that all discussions here have revolved around the transcript of the moves itself, not the videotape.
Courtesy is fine. I had a situation with an Othello tournament I directed where one of the players didn't want the tournament transcripts published until after the World Othello Championship. He didn't want the other players to know what openings he was playing. I didn't like it, but I complied to avoid conflict. The question here is what to do when agreement can't be reached and a decision must be made by the directors. I feel that recording must be allowed unless it interferes with play in some direct fashion.
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