Spectators at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics will not be allowed to post videos of events on their social media accounts, in an effort by organisers to protect broadcast rights-holders.
The Tokyo 2020 organising commitee, said the measure was necessary given the substantial amounts broadcasters pay for Olympic properties.
Atsushi Igarashi, director of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Organising Committee, told Japan Today: “What if, for example, fans video the 100-meter final and then quickly upload it? The broadcast rights-holders might ask why they spent all that money in the first place.”
“In sports, what happens in an instant is important,” he added.
Similar measures were in place at last year’s Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
Spectators will, however, be able to upload photographs to their social media accounts, but only on the condition they are not used for commercial activity.
The International Olympic Committee will gain the copyright on all videos and photographs produced at Olympic venues by ticket holders. While it is likely to be difficult to enforce these rights during the events themselves, the IOC will seek to remove all uploaded videos for infringement of its copyright.
According to IOC figures, 73 per cent of the body’s income from 2013 to 2016 came from the sale of broadcasting rights.