The Enterprise Minister has confirmed unofficial live streaming of the Isle of Man TT races ‘which replicates official broadcast’ is not permitted.

Tim Johnston has moved to clarify whether spectators can film the racing and confirmed the Department for Enterprise (DfE) welcomes fans taking photos and video clips and sharing them but says there is a line that can be crossed.

He was responding to a written Tynwald question from Douglas Central MHK Chris Thomas who asked whether members of the public can film and livestream TT Races and Festival of Motoring footage from private land and public roads and if not, why not.

Mr Johnston said: ‘The Isle of Man TT Races is one of the world’s most iconic motorsport events and the DfE, as the rights holder and promoter of the event, is committed to preserving the integrity, sustainability, viability, and visibility of the event.

‘Members of the public are permitted to film from public areas and fans are actively encouraged to share their experiences and content online. This is a great way for fans to get involved as well as supporting the global visibility of the TT Races, helping to further grow the event's audience.’

‘However, this must be done responsibly and with an understanding of the important distinction between occasional sharing of fan-created short clip content, and activities which replicate or compromise the event’s official live broadcast.

Mr Johnson says there is a need to protect the exclusivity rights for the official broadcast to ensure high quality coverage and protect commerciality.

He said: ‘The live broadcast is also one of the event’s main commercial revenue streams, generating essential income to offset the cost to the public purse of running the event.

‘Safeguarding the TT’s live broadcast and additional TV highlights broadcast agreements is critical to the delivery and long-term sustainability of the TT as this generates over £2million of income.

‘The Department is contractually obliged through individual agreements to protect the market exclusivity that broadcasters pay rights fees for.’

While it is difficult to prevent people from physically filming and livestreaming full races, Mr Johnston says the DfE can attempt to have such footage taken down from social media platforms.

He explained: ‘As is standard practice at major sporting events, the Department maintains the right to use digital rights management tools on platforms such as YouTube to remove unofficial live streams that infringe on these broadcasts.

‘This approach is not intended to restrict genuine fan engagement but rather to protect the commercial interests and significant investment required to deliver the event.’

He said: ‘In summary, while filming from public roads is permitted and fans are encouraged to share content, the expectation is that this is done responsibly, and therefore unofficial live streaming or filming in a manner that replicates the official broadcast is not permitted.’

The DfE is also the rights holder for the Classic TT but does not own the rights to the Manx Grand Prix or Southern 100.