Reply from Munz

I don’t think there will be a practical issue.
On its face the rule vests the Intellectual Property in RISA which then licences those rights  to owners for commercial exploitation such as merchandising. The first paragraph of the rule tries to imply that RISA are only seeking the rule change for reporting administration and general promotion of racing. These are reasonable requirements and the Industry can’t be held to ransom for the use of images or colours on general Industry websites and for general promotion of racing. The rule definitely allows for commercial exploitation by the Owners as the licence back of the IP to Owners for that purpose indicates. The problem is the grey area with the reference to RISA being able to use the IP for “promotion”. The rule should have made clear that sponsorship and merchandising rights are exclusive to the Owner. I spoke to  Peter McGauren ,the CEO of the ARB, who assured me that this is how the rule is intended to operate and he will probably put out a press release clarifying this point to defuse concerns.