Saw this at profootballtalk.com, Some church in Indy tried to have a "Super Bowl Bash" where they charged a nominal fee for snacks and NFL lawyers got involved.
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070201/LOCAL/702010431/
Apparently they fear it will affect the Nielsens. rotfl
sundog
02-01-07, 08:49 AM
Amusing, not surprising. I always find the superbowl copyright fascinating. Every year we get all the ads inundated with euphemisms. How long until NFL copyrights Big Game?
Now though, I think god should charge licensing fees when players and coaches mention him on TV...
stevevt
02-01-07, 09:02 AM
Last year, I read an article about the copyright on "Super Bowl". It was completely enlightening because the overwhelming majority of advertising here includes the exact phrase rather than euphemisms. I'm talking about super market chains, restaurants, etc. -- nobody that might be an official sponsor.
sundog
02-01-07, 09:26 AM
Really?
I wonder if that's because of our respective markets. I'm in Chicago, the 3rd largest market, so advertising here reaches a very wide audience.
And it's clear that the NFL is keeping a closer eye on the markets featuring teams in the game (or at least more prone to act on it).
Jericho
02-01-07, 10:24 AM
When I took my Trademarks class, my professor liked to talk about his case where they got sued for making a commercial for mentioning the words "Super Bowl" init. It's a real gray area of the law.
Of course in this case it wasn't the trademark that got them into trouble, it was the copyright law. I'm not familiar with the provisions supposedly violated, but I find it interesting the maximum allowed is 55 inches. I actually have a bigger TV than that. I wonder how people I can have before I violated the copyright code? I should look it up...
stevevt
02-01-07, 10:25 AM
Really?
I wonder if that's because of our respective markets. I'm in Chicago, the 3rd largest market, so advertising here reaches a very wide audience.
And it's clear that the NFL is keeping a closer eye on the markets featuring teams in the game (or at least more prone to act on it).
I'm sure that has a lot to do with it.
Shannon Nutt
02-01-07, 10:49 AM
I wonder if the Oscars have similar rules. I know they're very protective of the word "Oscar" or "Academy Award". In fact, I'm probably going to get sued for posting this. ;)
sundog
02-02-07, 08:51 AM
There's a bar a block from my house. Last week they put up a sign for a superbowl party explicitly stating "Super Bowl Party".
Well last night it was changed to "Super Sunday, no cover, regular prices..."
Someone must have gotten to them too!
Mopower
02-02-07, 09:25 AM
The NFL is way better than God. Duh.
Red Dog
02-02-07, 10:07 AM
So that law means that sports bars can't show the game on anything larger than a 55" TV? Bizarre.
edit: ah, I see there is an exception in there. What a load of hypocritical bullshit.
In fact, the NFL maintains it is illegal for anyone to display the game on a screen larger than 55 inches. This means, for one, there are many thousands of copyright violators out there in America's recently updated home theaters. League spokesman Aiello says the NFL does make an exception for sports bars and other venues which routinely show televised sports, but as for the ad hoc viewing party -- woe unto you.
I guess I'll be attending an illegal party on Sunday then. My friend has a 100+" projection screen.
Dalvin
02-02-07, 01:08 PM
Wow...I heard differently. First I heard they were just inviting people over to watch the game on a 52" Plamsa(don't know where the money came from there though). Yet, they were inviting a ton of people over. That's why the NFL got involved. Its pretty darn sad if you ask me.
Greed....its probably one of the biggest problems with Capitalism.
cleaver
02-02-07, 01:44 PM
The NFL is way better than God. Duh.
I was going to name the thread "NFL (-6.5) vs GOD"
kvrdave
02-05-07, 10:14 AM
So that law means that sports bars can't show the game on anything larger than a 55" TV? Bizarre
I guess I'll be attending an illegal party on Sunday then. My friend has a 100+" projection screen.
How can that possibly be illegal?
kenbuzz
02-05-07, 10:54 AM
We had a "Superb Bowl" party at my house with a 60" TV and about 2 dozen viewers. I taped a paper border around the screen to reduce the diagonal size down to 54" to comply with the laws being written by the NFL.
On a serious note, I think that the reason why the league doesn't want multiple folks to gather around one large screen is that when 4 or 5 households empty to watch on one tube, the ratings get screwed up. While the same (or even more) number of eyeballs are staring at the game and commercials, the actual number of television sets is reduced. Since the Super Bowl is the largest single source of television advertising revenue, and since the league and the networks are joined at the hip, the league may be forced to take steps to try to guarantee the networks the ratings numbers they need to justify to their advertisers the high ad costs.
If they can actually force folks to watch on 55" (or smaller) screens, then fewer can see the same screen, more screens will be needed, and if the "one screen per household" rule can also be enforced, then you've got more households watching. More households watching = higher ratings.
But that's just my guess.
Red Dog
02-05-07, 11:45 AM
How can that possibly be illegal?
Only going by what it said in the insert of that article. :shrug:
Jericho
02-05-07, 01:46 PM
Ditka can beat God. Hell, even Mini-Ditka can beat God. So I can see why the NFL wins
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