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The NFL Wants You To Think These Things Are Illegal

Posted by Soulskill on from the might-want-to-focus-on-making-the-players-think-certain-things-are-illegal dept.

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?

2 of 227 comments (clear)

  1. "Not illegal" is not the same as "you can do this" by guises · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The article misses the big point here: regardless of whether or not what you do is actually illegal, the NFL may very well sue you anyway. It's illegal in practice even if not in the books.

  2. It works both ways by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Where the article claims that intellectuals compete over their ignorance of sports, non-intellectuals compete over their ignorance of math or other subjects as well. Some people in any cultural subgroup will do things like this as a means of establishing their cultural identity. It's not that big of a deal.

    Why is it important to me that I should be able to instantly bond with members of the "working class?" (I work, everyone I know works, what the article means is "lower class"). In my personal experience (mostly in college and shortly thereafter), plenty of lower class people also spend what little money they have on street drugs and excessive alcohol while voicing hatred for the wealthy. Such people are not only uninteresting to me bug outright dangerous. I am very glad I pulled myself out of that culture, and I have no interest in spending more time with such people than I have to.

    If I am to force myself to become interested in something that I naturally find boring, I am going to need better incentive than "but you can make friends with people you don't normally want to be friends with!"