A Sangamon County judge ruled Tuesday that the Illinois High School Association has the right to claim “exclusive rights” and charge fees to media outlets that webcast postseason games.

The hearing was requested by the Illinois Press Association after the IHSA claimed it had those “exclusive rights” for last week’s quarterfinal high school football games. The IPA claimed that the IHSA could not do that, based upon a 2008 settlement reached between the two groups.

But Circuit Judge Patrick Kelley ruled that the settlement did not extend to the webcast of full games. The ruling does not impact the coverage of games through newsprint, photos, internet photo galleries or video highlights.