Senaka Weeraratna requests DRS ownership from ICC
Senaka Weeraratna, who is claiming ownership of the widely used Decision Review System (DRS), had written to the International Cricket Council (ICC) Chairman Greg Barclay through Carroll and O’Dea, a Sydney based law firm, requesting the ICC to accept his claim.
The letter seeks the acknowledgment of the ownership of the concept of DRS as the basic idea of underlying DRS namely ‘Player Referral’ was claimed to have been conceived by Weeraratne as far back as 1997 and the elements of the currently used DRS have been adopted from the ideas written and published by the latter.
“We are instructed by Mr. Senaka Weeraratna regarding a copyright issue in relation to DRS. It is claimed that the concept of DRS was conceived by our client in 1997. He further developed the idea and publicised it in numerous journals and newspapers in Australia, England, Pakistan and Sri Lanka from 1997 to 1999,” the letter signed by Maithri Panagoda, Senior Partner Carroll and O’Dea reads.
The DRS was first introduced in 2008 July during the Test series between India and Sri Lanka and was officially launched by the ICC in November 2009.
“Our client’s contention is that the elements of the presently used DRS have been adapted from his ideas,” it reads.
“There is a clear reference in Wikipedia that ‘the system is based on the concept of player referral conceived by Senaka Weeraratna in 1997’. It is universally accepted that the DRS has revolutionised the game and have made the lives of players much easier.
“It is our respectful submission that our client has moral copyright as well as economic copyright in relation to this important concept. We earnestly request you to take necessary steps to acknowledge our client’s ownership of the concept.”