The NFL Wants You To Think These Things Are Illegal

An anonymous reader writes: Professional sports have become a minefield of copyright and trademark issues, and no event moreso than the Super Bowl. Sherwin Siy of Public Knowledge has an article debunking some of the things the NFL has convinced people they can't do, even through they're perfectly legal. For example, you've probably heard the warning about how "descriptions" and "accounts" of the game are prohibited without the NFL's consent. That's all hogwash: "The NFL would be laughed out of court for trying to prevent them from doing so—just because you have a copyright in a work doesn't mean you can prevent people from talking about it. Copyright simply doesn't extend that far." Recording the game and watching it later is just fine, too.

So, will you be paying attention to the game today? Ignoring it? Practicing your cultivated disinterest?

Comments

Is it illegal

[rossdee]

to not give a fsck about the superbole in particular of even (american) football in general
?

Badly written

[Rick Zeman]

The author totally skips over the first sentence ""This telecast is copyrighted by the NFL for the private use of our audience" and then points out all of the things that a private citizen can do.

Duh.

NFL got a guru --- the MAFIAA

[Anonymous Coward]

Whatever NFL is doing sounds very much like MAFIAA has been doing to everybody for the past 2 decades or so --- one FUD after another

Tha MAFIAA violates the law more times than anyone can count - including demanding people's totally legitimate videos to be pulled down from youtube, mailing threatening letters to innocent party who never commit any music / video pirating, filing DCMA on legitimate contents online, and so on

xkcd

[Livius]

Munroe has the right idea:

Hooray for snacks!

Re:xkcd

[StillAnonymous]

People ask me about sports all the time and I just respond that I'm not interested in watching. The conversation typically goes like this:

"Why don't you like sports?"
"It's not that I don't like sports, in fact I like playing some of them. It's just that I don't enjoy watching them."
"Why? They're so exciting!"
"Would you like to watch me play a video game?"
"No."
"Why?"
"That's boring."
"Now you know how I feel about watching someone I don't know play a game on a field. Intersperse that with hundreds of advertisements, comments about how much money these guys are being paid because they were lucky enough to be born with the physical qualities that make them good at this game, and therefore how much more important they are than say, a group of scientists who's names you will never know that working on a cure for Parkinson's or leukemia."

The commercial aspect and obscene amounts of money and resources poured into "professional" sports is actually a major turn-off to me and turns it from something I'm merely "not interested in" to something I actually resent. I would have enjoyed Hockey back in the 50's or 60's when it was just a bunch of regular Joe's with day-jobs who played the game for the love of it, not because they're some prima-donnas who're demanding they get an extra million or they won't play. Go watch the movie BASEketBall to see this.

Re:Hyperbole Sunday

[hairyfeet]

Not to mention the article is full of crap because if the NFL SAYS its illegal? Then it is...because they can afford a million dollar legal team with "experts" and research teams that can keep you in court for the next decade and you? you can't.

For several decades now the only ones that have been able to go against an ubercorp is another ubercorp and the reason why is obvious, you send your local yokel lawyer against their dream team he is gonna be utterly demolished. Then you figure in the fact that they won't have to give up work to be in court, won't have to worry where their next check comes from,and even if they lose they can afford to keep the appeals going for another decade, can you? Unless your last name is Gates or Buffet? Not likely.

This is why I've said for years we have to have a serious overhaul of our legal system because as it is now if you go against a megacorp (or the state) you are a junior HS football team and they are the Denver Broncos, doesn't matter if you claim the game itself is "fair" because in the end they have access to talent and resources leagues above anything you can possibly muster.