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.
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.
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.
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:
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.
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.
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?
I don’t know how true this is, but my bartender told me once that the promoters of a wrestling thing charged a per-person fee for the entire capacity (I guess whatever the fire marshal says) of the bar. So whether the place was full or not, they would have had to pay up.