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Will Your Super Bowl Party Anger the Copyright Gods?

garg0yle writes "According to some folks, watching the Super Bowl on a television bigger than 55 inches is illegal. Is this true? Yes and no — long story short, if you're in a private residence you're probably okay, but if you're running a sports bar you may technically have to negotiate a license with the NFL. Just don't charge for food, or call it a 'Super Bowl' party, since the term itself is copyright."

4 of 560 comments (clear)

  1. Can't copyright a term by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    ...call it a 'Super Bowl' party, since the term itself is copyright.

    Summary fail. Perhaps you mean trademark?

  2. Re:Not copyrighted but trademarked by Nadaka · · Score: 5, Informative

    It could be worse. They could be claiming a trademark an a symbol that is thousands of years old and has been iconic and representative of a house of nobles, a city founded under their reign and an entire culture for several hundred years or the symbol of a major social organization or perhaps even an official state symbol... Oh wait, they ARE. Several restaurants in New Orleans have been sued for trademark infringement by the NFL over the use of the Fleur De' Lis, a symbol that some of them have been since before the NFL existed.

  3. Re:The term itself...? by Megahard · · Score: 5, Informative

    And then the NFL wanted to trademark the Big Game. Schools with their own Big Games got upset. The insanity continues.

    --
    I eat only the real part of complex carbohydrates.
  4. Re:Old news by DrGamez · · Score: 5, Informative

    Some new "licensed" or "official" content required you have DRM approved connections every step of the way to play it. That means an approved machine, an approved tv, an approved HDMI cable, every single step must be on the "ok to run licensed content" list. The handshaking constantly between them all causes problems - as does any DRM given enough time.