Hearing to determine future of Go Irish suit

A hearing is schedu led fo r to m o r­ ro w to dec ide i f a tem pora ry in ju n c ­ tio n shou ld be p laced against Fan A ction , Inc., pub lishe rs o f G o I r is h , to keep the magazine fro m p u b lish ­ ing under its c u rre n t name. The hearing is the resu lt o f a c o u n te r su it f ile d by N o tre Dame against Fan A c tio n , cha rg ing i t w ith m aking the p u b lic a tio n appear to be co n nec ted w ith the U n ive rs ity . Fan A c tio n f ile d su it against N o tre Dame in Septem ber a lleg ing tha t the Sports In fo rm a tio n D epa rtm en t was in te rfe r in g w ith the no rm a l business fun c tion s o f G o I r is h , an in d e p e n d ­ ent p u b lic a tio n w h ic h cove rs N o tre Dame foo tba ll. The o rig in a l su it f ile d b y Fan A c ­ t io n c la im s that the Sports In fo rm a ­ tio n D epartm en t “ had done ce rta in th ings to in te rfe re w ith the w o rk in g s o f the p u b lic a tio n ," a cco rd in g to James Groves, a tto rn e y fo r Fan A c­ tion . The su it charges tha t the Sports In fo rm a tio n D ep a rtm e n t den ied Go I r is h press c reden tia ls and tha t peop le from the Sports In fo rm a tio n D epa rtm en t had tr ie d to in flu e n ce o th e r u n ive rs itie s n o t to coopera te w ith w r ite rs and o th e r peop le from the p u b lica tio n . The U n iv e rs ity ’s co u n te r-su it charges tha t Go I r is h has been try in g to make its e lf appear to be c o n ­ nected w ith N o tre Dame, a cco rd in g to P h ilip Faccenda, legal representa­ tiv e fo r the U n ive rs ity . In c lu d e d in the charges are the use o f the w o rd “ Ir ish ,” th e m ast­ head w h ic h reads “ the newsmagazine devo ted e xxc lus ive ly to the coverage o f N o tre Dame F igh ting Ir ish F oo tba ll,” the lack o f d isc la im ers s ta ting that the p u b lica ­ t io n was n o t connec ted w ith the U n ive rs ity in any way, and o th e r item s w h ic h a lleged ly make the p u b lic a tio n appear to be co nnec ted w ith N o tre Dame. G o I r is h has a fo lio at the b o tto m o f each page dec la ring it as “ An in d e ­ pendent sports p u b lic a tio n ." The magazine began to p r in t a p u b lis ­ h e r’s d isc la im e r n o tice early in N ovem ber. Roger V a ld ise rri, d ire c to r o f Sports In fo rm a tio n , com m e n te d that he d id no t k n o w w h y the G o Ir is h s ta ff th o u g h t i t was be ing trea ted u n ­ fa irly . He n o ted tha t the U n ive rs ity has p u b lished regu la tions rega rd ing the c r ite r ia fo r the issuance o f press and p h o to credentia ls . Those c r ite r ia state tha t “ w e e k ly p u b lish in g m edia agencies i f less than 100,000 p u b lished c irc u la tio n cannot be accom odated ” The c ir ­ c u la tio n o f Go I r is h , pub lished w e e k ly d u rin g the fo o tb a ll season and m o n th ly d u rin g the offseason, is a p p ro x im a te ly 8,000. V a ld ise rri added that a ll in te r ­ v iew s m ust go th ro u g h the Sports In ­ fo rm a tio n D epartm en t, because o f the co n ce rn o f gam b ling o rgan iza­ tions m is rep resen ting them selves to the p layers as m edia personnel.