"The National Football League has absolutely no objection to churches and others hosting Super Bowl viewing parties as long as they do not charge admission and show the game on a television of the type commonly used at home.
"We are simply following copyright law and have done so with regard to any type of commercial establishment including hotels, theatres, museums, schools, arenas and others.
"This is nothing new. It is a matter of longstanding policy and the law.
"We have no rules that relate to viewing at home on any type of television."
I don't know what this is about - why do churches need permission from the NFL to do anything?
Because the
copyright laws are written in such a way as to be slanted toward the copyright holder. Even though the copyright holder is putting a show on the public airwaves, the copyright laws say that the public that owns those airwaves can't show what is on those airwaves for profit, and if you're in the business of making a profit, you only can show their works with limitations.
It sounds like the NFL was probably trying to claim that the church was an "establishment", which is in the copyright laws as a "store, shop, or any similar place of business open to the general public for the primary purpose of selling goods or services". Establishments (other than bars and restaurants) over 2,000 square feet can't show copyrighted works - even those over the public airwaves - on anything more than 4 TVs (1 per room), each no more than 55 inches diagonal. Other folks, like you and me at home, can watch it on any "single receiving apparatus of a kind commonly used in private homes", as long as we don't charge admission or retransmit the feed. It sounds like the NFL was trying to have the best of both worlds - limit churches to only 1 TV AND limit the size of the set to under 55 inches. They can't have it both ways (though that's never stopped a copyright owner from sending threatening letters that have no real basis in the law before).
Absolutely NOTHING in the copyright laws gives the NFL the ability to prevent you, me or anyone else who doesn't charge admission from incorporating a message while watching their TV show. If Algore's crappy movie is shown on TV, and we FReepers want to get together (without charging a cover) in order to trash it, Algore can't stop us. Nor should he be able to.
I don't know what this is about - why do churches need permission from the NFL to do anything? The controversy began when NFL lawyers sent a cease-and-desist letter to the Indianapolis church named in the article, ordering the church to cancel the event on grounds that public showing of the game is limited to contracted sports bars.