NFL Pulls Plug On Big-Screen Church Parties For Super Bowl - Via washingtonpost.com :
The NFL said, however, that the copyright law on its games is long-standing and the language read at the end of each game is well known: "This telecast is copyrighted by the NFL for the private use of our audience. Any other use of this telecast or any pictures, descriptions, or accounts of the game without the NFL's consent is prohibited."
The league bans public exhibitions of its games on TV sets or screens larger than 55 inches because smaller sets limit the audience size. The section of federal copyright law giving the NFL protection over the content of its programming exempts sports bars, NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said.
The issue came to a head last year after the NFL sent a letter to Fall Creek Baptist Church in Indianapolis, warning the church not show the Super Bowl on a giant video screen. For years, the church had held a Super Bowl party in its auditorium, attracting about 400 people and showing the game on a big screen usually reserved for hymn lyrics.
The letter "was really a disturbing thing," said Marlene Broome, a spokeswoman for the church.
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To avoid attracting the ire of the NFL, some churches are even giving Super Bowl parties a more generic name. Broadfording Bible Brethren Church in Hagerstown will call its annual event the "Big Game Party."
The church still plans to show the game on its jumbo-size screen near the pulpit in its sanctuary. Pastor Bill Wyand said he has heard secondhand about the policy and is not sure whether screening the game via the church's video-projector system violates NFL policy. Still, he is looking nervously over his shoulder.
On the legal flip side, the NFL's big-screen ban could end up landing the league in trouble.
John Whitehead, president of the Rutherford Institute, a Charlottesville civil liberties group that focuses on religious freedom issues, is threatening to sue the NFL on behalf of an Alabama church that wants to host a big-screen Super Bowl party. He is also seeking sponsors for federal legislation to exempt churches from the ban.
"It's ridiculous," Whitehead said. "You can go into these stores now and buy 100-inch screens. The law is just outdated."
(Read Original Article - Via washingtonpost.com .)