Upon Further Review...

As a wise man once told me, "There's two sides to every story."

Or maybe I got that from a song from Joe Walsh.

After talking in a post yesterday about the fun-haters at the National Football League putting the kibosh on planned gatherings at churches and public places to watch the Super Bowl on a large screen projection television, it turns out that it's not the NFL making up arbitrary rules regarding where and how games can be watched.  It turns out that they are fully working within the copyright laws of the United States.

I happened across a radio talk show yesterday where the guest was talking about copyright laws on the heels of the NFL's demand that the Fall Creek Baptist Church does not show the game on their 120" projection screen on Sunday evening.  It turns out that it's illegal for any private party to charge to watch a program, movie, sporting event, etc. on a television larger than 55" diagonally. 

Here's the part of the U.S. Code that deals with watching performances and charging admission for the broadcast performance (shows, concerts, DVD's, sporting events, etc.):

(II) if the performance or display is by audiovisual means, any visual portion of the performance or display is communicated by means of a total of not more than 4 audiovisual devices, of which not more than 1 audiovisual device is located in any 1 room, and no such audiovisual device has a diagonal screen size greater than 55 inches, and any audio portion of the performance or display is communicated by means of a total of not more than 6 loudspeakers, of which not more than 4 loudspeakers are located in any 1 room or adjoining outdoor space;

Even after the church said they would not charge admission to offset the cost of the food they'd serve, the NFL still said, "Huh uh." 

It was because they were going to show it to a large group of people at a church on a screen larger than 55 inches diagonally. 

Thanks to Tony Jobe who sent this along:

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said the league's longstanding policy is to ban "mass out-of-home viewing" of the Super Bowl. A major exception to the rule is made, however, for sports bars and other businesses that show televised sports as a part of their everyday operations.

"We have contracts with our (TV) networks to provide free over-the-air television for people at home," Aiello said. "The network economics are based on television ratings and at-home viewing. Out-of-home viewing is not measured by Nielsen."

The U.S. code on exemptions for copyright infringement can be found here:

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode17/usc_sec_17_00000110----000-.html

By the way, it turns out that you can watch the game on two televisions in your house.  And a thanks to Bill Hesson for the homework on finding that provision in the U.S. Code. 

Still, I think the NFL could have done a better job of conveying their position as to why they threatened legal action on the Fall Creek Baptist Church - and other similar gatherings around the nation.  The NFL doesn't need to be so heavy-handed.  In fact, if they had just cited the law instead of been so cold and callous in their delivery, I would have never brought this up in the first place. 

For as good of a public relations department the NFL seems to have, they clearly fumbled on this one... 

Comments

[Tim Lake]

I see where another Baptist church in Indianapolis went ahead and had a Super Bowl gathering and showed the game on their big screen. I wonder if the NFL will go after them after the fact?