I'm working at home this morning and hear Charlie Sykes talking about the NFL's refusal to let a church hold a Super Bowl party because its TV screen is too big. The league takes the position that this would violate their copyright protection. The league recently spiked a plan to show the game at Soldier's Field. Mass out of home viewings reduce Nielsen ratings and, therefore, what advertisers will pay the networks and what the networks will pay the league.
Intellectual property lawyers tend to be rabid over respect for things like copyrights, trademarks and patents, although copyrights are just about impossible to lose. Obviously, the league should make an exception for, at least, gatherings of charitable organizations below a certain attendance. What is not clear to me is whether it could do that unilaterally. It could be that the terms of the license granted to the networks restrict the circumstances in which the NFL can permit use of the copyrighted work (the game) by others.
Wow. I better not talk about the party I'm going to then.
ReplyDeleteWow. We agree on something.
ReplyDeleteThe only way it seems that it wouldn't make sense to allow it is if the church charged for admission or tried to made a fundraiser out of it.
Please folks, it's Soldier Field, not Soldier's Field!!
ReplyDeleteI wonder what the NFL thinks of bars charging $50 cover fees for Super Bowl parties. Are they OK as long as the TV screens are below a certain size?
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