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NFL backs off churches' Super Bowl partiesfrom Richard Essex, WTHR-TV, Indianapolis
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The NFL is changing the rules on where you can watch the Super Bowl this year. In the past, the league threatened to sue churches and community centers that showed the game on big screens.
"Even though they are correct, in a legal matter, a church putting a game on a big screen or on a wall is a public performance, it violates the copyright act," said Gary Roberts, the dean of the Indiana University School of Law in Indianapolis. In all legal rights, according to Roberts, the NFL can tell churches not to hold Super Bowl parties if the game is shown on a wall or a huge screen. "The league, I think, is making themselves look foolish to deny churches the opportunity to have a get-together with their parishioners," Roberts said. The NFL is letting churches hold parties and show the game. Three years ago, several churches planned parties, printed brochures and had everything planned, until a letter from the NFL told them to stop. Fall Creek Baptist Church was one of the Indianapolis-area churches that got a cease-and-desist order from the NFL three years ago. They are going to have a party this year, advertising on their billboard for "The Big Game Bash." "Well, if they are not using the word 'Super Bowl' anywhere and the NFL has given them, effectively, a license to use the copyrighted work, I think they are pretty safe. They could pray some, I suppose, but I think they are pretty safe," Roberts said. Bars and taverns get around the copyright law by having smaller TVs in more places. "But there is an exception, if you display the copyrighted work on a device commonly found in the home," Roberts said. The NFL already told New Orleans that the city can't hold a viewing party at the Superdome, the home of the Saints. Churches cannot charge for their parties but they can pass collection plates to help defray the cost of the events. Most Viewed
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