A “polite legal letter” from the BCCI has prompted the creators of a popular Australian podcast to take down “every single video” related to their coverage of the ongoing Indian Premier League from their social media accounts. Sam Perry and Ian Higgins, who host The Grade Cricketer, received a legal notice from the BCCI and the IPL over the weekend. “You may have noticed that every single video from our coverage of this year’s cricket tournament has been removed from YouTube, YouTube Shorts, Facebook, Instagram and X,” Perry said on the podcast on Monday.

“This is something we’ve done ourselves, it hasn’t been done to us, we have removed these videos. On Saturday evening Australian time we received a very polite legal letter about elements of our content from the cricket tournament we speak to you about pertaining specifically to this season.

“As a result we decided to take those videos down,” he added.

According to a report in the ‘Sydney Morning Herald’, “The legal notice was related to claims that Grade Cricketer IPL videos featured still photography shots from the tournament that the BCCI considered to be used for ‘commercial’ rather than ‘editorial’ purposes.” It is to be noted that the IPL, in its media advisory, makes it clear that the audio and videos they provide are exclusively for editorial use.

“Media are allowed to use the press conference video/audio on their respective websites or mobile applications for editorial use. The press conference video/audio cannot be uploaded on social media platforms including but not limited to YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter),” all IPL media advisories read.

Both Perry and Higgins are scheduled to travel to India for a few live shows this week.

“It’s very important to note we’re going to continue to post coverage of the tournament, at the same cadence that we do. In fact, there’s going to be more in the next couple of weeks because we’re going to India,” Perry said.

“But our approach to content has been consistent for five years, we just now have a deeper understanding of what is and isn’t passing muster.” The Grade Cricketer produces a daily show called ‘The Big IPL Breakfast’, and following the development, it will be renamed.

“We are considering changing its name to the Big Cricket tournament Breakfast,” Perry said.