One of the many things I like about my girlfriend is that she’s the one who wants us to get a bigger television. Of course, if we got too big a television, we might not be able to hold our annual Super Bowl party: the NFL is sending around its annual set of scare letters to anyone offering a public exhibition of the Super Bowl on a television larger than 55 inches. (Jacqueline L. Salmon, WaPo, “NFL Pulls Plug On Big-Screen Church Parties For Super Bowl”, Feb. 1). Yes, you’ve seen this story before: Feb. 3 and Jan. 31 last year.
Update: and at the WSJ ($).
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In fans as infringers; nastygrams; sports; Super Bowl
I don’t understand the NFL’s beef with this–if the exhibition is not-for-profit, as in the case of the church. But, the story indicates there is an exemption for sports bars (for profit) to publicly display the game. That seems backwards to me.
I can see
If the Church served Communion during Half Time, could they qualify for the Sports Bar Exemption?
I don’t understand, is there not a way they can get permission? If you want to play copyrighted music in a restaurant you can get permission if you pay the royalty fees. Could a church not just ask the NFL what it would cost to get permission to for this? You would think they could reach a reasonable number like $10 per guest or something.