see also:

• photography main index
• 2012 AFL submission to Australian Law reform on copyright provides insights into the AFL photography and accreditation of photographers (pdf)
• http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-10-09/afl-takes-legal-action-over-memorabilia/4302904
  • AFL maintains it owns photographs of any player in uniform on or off the field as their writ claims the AFL owns a total of 278 registered trade marks relating to the AFL competition, such as the names, nicknames and shields of the clubs and the players' images in uniforms, both on and off field.
  • AFL players are specifically paid and contracted to forbid them from signing unofficial memorabilia

• as for most commercial sports venues in Australia such as AFL, Australian Tennis Open, etc, the average punter attending can take photos for non-commercial usage but they generally will be denied entry to the venue if their lens is more than 200mm in focal length.
• the reason for this is that the sports companies such as AFL seek to control all commercial usage of sports images of their events as they believe they hold the commercial copyright to any images taken at the venues
• accredited photographers CAN gain special access on the ground and use whatever lens size they wish, BUT although they can use the images for news purposes, the images cannot be exploited for commercial usage.
• in addition to such accredited photographers, AFL Media employ a number of photographers to create the AFL's own content such as for merchandising, clubs, websites, etc.

• must be over age 18yrs, and generally, an employee of a News Reporting company
• accreditation appears to be on a per season basis
• application success may depend upon:
  • safety and security concerns
  • genuine issues of space
  • the need to ensure representation across international, national and local Media Organisations
  • the reach of the Applicant’s coverage, and for news agencies, the scale of the client base
• the right to publish Photographs is conditional on various clauses, including:
  • that it is prohibited in all circumstances from permitting the use of Photographs in any manner that creates a false impression that a person or business has a sponsorship, approval or affiliation with AFL or clubs.
  • the AFL is granted a non-exclusive, perpetual, licence to use any Photograph published by the Applicant for use in:
    • the non-commercial promotion of Australian football by the AFL
    • commercial marketing, advertising or promotional purposes, on a negotiated discount fee basis
  • the Applicant may sell Photographs to members of the public for private, non-Commercial Purpose and/or Use only
  • there must be no use of Photographs for any Commercial Purpose and/or Use whatsoever without the prior written consent of the AFL
  • images cannot be published on a website unless that platform is ordinarily a bona fide news reporting site