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Thou Shalt Not View The Super Bowl on a 56" Screen

Posted by Zonk on from the that's-like-the-fourteenth-commandment-right dept.

theodp writes "For 200 members of the Immanuel Bible Church and their friends, the annual Super Bowl party is over thanks to the NFL, which explained that airing NFL games at churches on large-screen TV sets violates the NFL copyright. Federal copyright law includes an exemption for sports bars, according to NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy, but churches are out of luck. Churchgoers who aren't averse to a little drinking-and-driving still have the opportunity to see the game together in public on a screen bigger than 55 inches."

3 of 680 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Yeah, screw those churches! by zerocool^ · · Score: 5, Interesting


    Actually, and I kid you not, the fundamentalist southern baptist church that I went to when I was younger and still under the thumb of my parents did exactly what you're saying.

    Seriously, they figured that people would be watching the superbowl, and that's UNACCEPTABLE! Why? BECAUSE THE ADS ARE FOR BEER. Can't have good christians watching advertisements with frogs saying "Bud", now can we? So they showed the superbowl up on the wall of the gathering area at the church with a projector, and during the commercials, they'd instead air mini-commercials about jesus that the youth group had put together.

    Yeah. No joke. Wild.

    ~Wx

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    sig?
  2. Best Defense: "So Sue Me!" by Redbaran · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The best thing this church could do is call the NFL's bluff and play the game anyway!

    Let's consider the worst scenario, the NFL does sue. So what?!?! Odds are that the NFL will lose and then there is a good chance the church could counter-sue and reclaim any costs incurred.

    But, let's be realistic, it would be a PR suicide attempt for the NFL to sue a church. The only thing the church could do better then simply showing the game would be to bus in a load of poor, handicapped, cancer-inflicted children from broken homes. I'd like to see the NFL sue that!!

  3. Re:They bought themselves a law! by Gandalf_Greyhame · · Score: 5, Interesting

    and any audio portion of the performance or display is communicated by means of a total of not more than 6 loudspeakers, of which not more than 4 loudspeakers are located in any 1 room or adjoining outdoor space

    So, 5.1 is out then too?

    --
    I am not stubborn. I am right!