JAGS BOARD INSTRUCTS THE IMMEDIATE RETURN OF "YOU TUBE" VIDEOS

The ongoing dispute between Highland League secretary John Grant and Buckie schoolboy David Smith has today taken a new twist  (tuesday 22nd december)  with the announcement that the youngster has now been instructed by the Buckie Thistle board to start putting his video footage back on "You Tube" with immediate effect.

Buckie teenager David Smith (16) has been at the centre of a major row following the decision of Highland League secretary John Grant to threaten the schoolboy with a massive £5,000 penalty, for videoing Buckie Thistle matches and then posting the highlights on the "You Tube" website.

Grant had claimed that the footage was "breach of copyright of the Highland League" and that the youngster could be charged for royalties amounting to £5,000.

Buckie Thistle president Mark Duncan had previously blasted the claims as "ridiculous" and said that the youngster was providing a "fantastic service to football fans all over the world".

Duncan today said: "They have now had a long enough period of time to come up with a solution to this problem but have failed to make a decision, so we have made one for them and it is that the videos will now go back online with immediate effect.

"We have had a number of discussions with David over the last week or so and he met with members of the board after Saturdays home match against Forres.

"We have instructed David to start showing his video footage again on "You Tube" as soon as possible and we expect the first of the last two matches - Deveronvale v Buckie Thistle - to be ‘live' on the internet tonight (Tuesday) at approximately 8pm with the second match, last Saturdays home match against Forres Mechanics following in the next couple of days.

"This whole issue has been driven by fan power and the general public who have been 100% behind David in what they see is a clear injustice.

"I know that our fans will be delighted that the videos have returned and fans of Highland League football all of the world will also be happy with this decision and the return of the video service, from David's point of view it lets him get back to doing what he does best - promoting Highland League football."

Duncan also went on to reveal that the main worry and reason for David having to stop posting his videos on the internet was the potential problem of facing a £5,000 penalty.

"We have now provided David with a letter from the club instructing him to start posting his videos again on the internet and we have also confirmed in writing that he would not be held responsible in any way for any fine or penalty.

"We do not however expect there to be any fine imposed in the future as the suggestion of penalising someone £5,000 for providing what is a service in promoting the Highland League was ridiculous in the first place.

"If however a decision to impose a penalty of any kind were made then we, along with thousands of other supporters would find this unacceptable and would then contest this all the way."

Duncan continued: "During our discussions with David we had to weigh up what was the best way forward to trying to find a solution to this problem.  One of the main problems that David highlighted was that it takes him between 8 - 10 hours to edit the footage of each match and then to post this onto the internet.

"If we were to wait until the date of the next league meeting (scheduled for mid January?) then David could have five or six games to process, this would simply take up too much time and would then start interfering with his school work and exams, so a decision on this needed to be taken now."

The story has attracted massive media coverage nationally ever since the news broke and as well as featuring in local newspapers the story has also appeared in national papers including the Daily Record, Sun, Daily Star and The Scotsman.  The story also been covered on the Sky news website and appeared on television.

The Buckie teenager now also has ‘backing from Holyrood' in the shape of Moray based MSP Richard Lochhead and MP Angus Robertson who have also written to John Grant requesting that a ‘sensible solution' is found.

There have also been thousands of messages of support from people all over the world and at the time of writing this article an online petition already has more than 1,300 signatures on it supporting David.

Mark Duncan said: "This matter is still far from being resolved, there will be a league meeting in January where it will be up for discussion.  We need fans to continue supporting David on this issue until a satisfactory conclusion is reached".

David Smith provides a fantastic service, he gives up his own personal time for no profit in filming these matches and then editing them to go on the website.

He provides an invaluable service for all fans including those who work offshore or abroad as well as the elderly and house bound who are unable to attend matches.

You can now show your support to David by signing the online petition at  www.petitiononline.com/bjm/petition.html (click on web address for direct link)

Duncan finished by saying "I'm sure that some people thought that this issue would just ‘go away' after a few days, it has not.

"Some have failed to understand the swell of public opinion against this whole thing and the opposite has in fact proved to be the case, with the support behind David gaining momentum each and every day since, this issue will not go away until a satisfactory conclusion is reached."