Telstra is suing its business partners, the Murdoch and Packer camps, in a messy battle over rugby league broadcasting rights.

Telstra claims Fox Sports, which is jointly owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp and James Packer's Publishing and Broadcasting Limited, has refused to stop making lengthy highlights available on its website and via mobile phone, breaching Telstra's $90 million six-year rights agreement with the NRL, Fairfax reports.

Telstra is seeking an urgent ruling from the Federal Court to restrict Fox Sports to using only limited footage for news reports, pending a full trial on the matter, according to its statement of claim lodged with the court on Tuesday.

Telstra said no more than 45 seconds of footage from each match should be shown as part of a news report and it should only be available for 24 hours from the end of a match. It is seeking unspecified damages for profits lost.

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP