View Full Version : Are restaurants and bars allowed to broadcast sporting events without permission?

Frosted Glass What are the restrictions, if any, on restaurant/bars that show sporting events on their in house televisions?



My friend, who works for Applebees, told me that they are not allowed to broadcast games with the volume on because to do so would require rights from various leagues that they do not have. For example, they could not show a Giants-Eagles game because they need permission from the NFL. I have trouble understanding this, however, because the bar that I work in routinely shows games with the sound on. Granted, the games are not as loud as the digital jukebox but you can hear commentary pretty clearly. If it makes any difference, I work in a neighborhood bar and grill that is not part of a chain.

Cyberhwk Anecdotal, but we turned the play-by-play on all the time at the small casino I used to work at. Not sure if we paid licensing fees.



I know we paid OUT THE ASS to broadcast UFC fights though.

Hari Seldon I once heard a copyright lawyer explain that a sporting event is a current event and so is any commentary except canned interviews and therefore not subject to copyright. Those claims that the pictures and commentaries are the exclusive property of the leagues and so on have no legal effect. This was a long time ago and the law could well have changed in the meantime, so only a lawyer up with current law can advise you. Wonder if this applies to wrestling matches.

Gfactor Slate's Explainer just covered this:



Public displays are more tightly controlled; as a general rule, they require the consent of the league. But there is an exception, from section 110 of the copyright law: You can show the game to a big crowd, provided you're not charging people to watch it and that when you tune in, you're only using "a single receiving apparatus of a kind commonly used in private homes." (This is called the "homestyle" exemption.)http://www.slate.com/id/2158874/

Billdo I know that the cable companies periodically have done legal crackdowns on bars which subscribe to cable TV under a residential contract for display to patrons. I believe that they need more expensive commercial contracts.



That being said, damn near every bar I've been in is showing the game.

drachillix I know that the cable companies periodically have done legal crackdowns on bars which subscribe to cable TV under a residential contract for display to patrons. I believe that they need more expensive commercial contracts.



That being said, damn near every bar I've been in is showing the game.



How would you regulate that with broadcast TV? If anyone can pick it up and watch it how can you force Bar X not to display monday night football, but not care about other shows.

Gfactor How would you regulate that with broadcast TV? If anyone can pick it up and watch it how can you force Bar X not to display monday night football, but not care about other shows.



It's not just sports. The rules apply to all copyrighted materials. I don't have time to explain the history of the rule or all of its intricacies right now, but here are the two statutes:



§ 106. Exclusive rights in copyrighted works

How Current is This?



Subject to sections 107 through 122, the owner of copyright under this title has the exclusive rights to do and to authorize any of the following:

(1) to reproduce the copyrighted work in copies or phonorecords;

(2) to prepare derivative works based upon the copyrighted work;

(3) to distribute copies or phonorecords of the copyrighted work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending;

(4) in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and motion pictures and other audiovisual works, to perform the copyrighted work publicly;

(5) in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and pictorial, graphic, or sculptural works, including the individual images of a motion picture or other audiovisual work, to display the copyrighted work publicly; and

(6) in the case of sound recordings, to perform the copyrighted work publicly by means of a digital audio transmission. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode17/usc_sec_17_00000106----000-.html



Notwithstanding the provisions of section 106, the following are not infringements of copyright:



* * * *



(5)

(A) except as provided in subparagraph (B), communication of a transmission embodying a performance or display of a work by the public reception of the transmission on a single receiving apparatus of a kind commonly used in private homes, unless—

(i) a direct charge is made to see or hear the transmission; or

(ii) the transmission thus received is further transmitted to the public;

(B) communication by an establishment of a transmission or retransmission embodying a performance or display of a nondramatic musical work intended to be received by the general public, originated by a radio or television broadcast station licensed as such by the Federal Communications Commission, or, if an audiovisual transmission, by a cable system or satellite carrier, if—

(i) in the case of an establishment other than a food service or drinking establishment, either the establishment in which the communication occurs has less than 2,000 gross square feet of space (excluding space used for customer parking and for no other purpose), or the establishment in which the communication occurs has 2,000 or more gross square feet of space (excluding space used for customer parking and for no other purpose) and—

(I) if the performance is by audio means only, the performance 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; or

(II) if the performance or display is by audiovisual means, any visual portion of the performance or display is communicated by means of a total of not more than 4 audiovisual devices, of which not more than 1 audiovisual device is located in any 1 room, and no such audiovisual device has a diagonal screen size greater than 55 inches, 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;

(ii) in the case of a food service or drinking establishment, either the establishment in which the communication occurs has less than 3,750 gross square feet of space (excluding space used for customer parking and for no other purpose), or the establishment in which the communication occurs has 3,750 gross square feet of space or more (excluding space used for customer parking and for no other purpose) and—

(I) if the performance is by audio means only, the performance 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; or

(II) if the performance or display is by audiovisual means, any visual portion of the performance or display is communicated by means of a total of not more than 4 audiovisual devices, of which not more than one audiovisual device is located in any 1 room, and no such audiovisual device has a diagonal screen size greater than 55 inches, 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;

(iii) no direct charge is made to see or hear the transmission or retransmission;

(iv) the transmission or retransmission is not further transmitted beyond the establishment where it is received; and

(v) the transmission or retransmission is licensed by the copyright owner of the work so publicly performed or displayed; (Emphasis added).http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode17/usc_sec_17_00000110----000-.html



The first bolded portion is the homestyle exemption, described in the Explainer article. The second is based on this case: Twentieth Century Music Corp. v. Aiken, 422 U.S. 151 (1975): http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cgi-bin/getcase.pl?navby=case&court=us&vol=422&page=156

Spectre of Pithecanthropus Typically, cable and satellite broadcasters have a class of commercial subscribers that cover bars, hotels, and so on. One of the factors that goes into figuring out what they have to pay is the average attendance, and there are actually auditors who go around spot checking these things. Now that's a job I'd like.

MsRobyn The NFL recently cracked down on churches and other nonprofit organizations that hold Super Bowl parties. The rules apparently say that private parties may only display the games on TVs smaller than 55", and they can only operate one TV, and no admission can be charged. (I'm working from memory, but I have the original article at home.) My take on it was that the NFL is trying to protect the commercial establishments that pay for the rights to air games. Since private parties don't have to pay, bars and restaurants lose some money to people who go to their church or to a friend's house.



I'll find the article when I get home.



Robin

gotpasswords The rules apparently say that private parties may only display the games on TVs smaller than 55"

Good thing I didn't buy the 58" plasma TV.



Now that 40 or 42" plasma TVs are pretty much entry-level, and 50" screens are just the next size bigger, how long before the "homestyle" rules need to be updated?

Gfactor The NFL recently cracked down on churches and other nonprofit organizations that hold Super Bowl parties.



It's in the Explainer article:



A Baptist congregation in Indiana plans to cancel its Super Bowl party this weekend, after receiving a threatening letter from the National Football League. NFL officials say the church would have broken the law by charging an admission fee and by screening the game on a TV that exceeds 55 inches.

Gfactor Even more on the Aiken and homestyle exemptions:



http://www.hotel-online.com/News/PR2005_1st/Mar05_CopyrightLaws.html (discussion of section 110 as it applies to hotels)



http://www.studentweb.law.ttu.edu/cochran/cochran/Cases%20&%20Readings/Copyright-UNT/Public%20Perform/claires.htm (good discussion of section 110).



http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?navby=search&case=/data2/circs/7th/933109.html (sound system was not the kind used in private homes)