FTC Asked To Stop Bogus Copyright Warnings In Sports Broadcasts
from the stop-the-copyright-abuse dept
You may recall earlier this year that law professor Wendy Seltzer received a DMCA takedown notice from the NFL for posting a short clip to YouTube of the part during the Super Bowl where the announcers state the famous warning that often reads something like "Any rebroadcast, reproduction or other use of the pictures, accounts or descriptions of this game without the express written consent of Big Sports League, is prohibited." What got lost in the Seltzer story over whether or not posting that particular clip to YouTube was legal, was that her point in using it was to show how sports leagues were making claims to rights that copyright didn't actually give them. It appears that enough others have noticed this as well that a trade group, backed by various big name tech companies, is now asking the Federal Trade Commission to prevent broadcasters from making such "deceptive" copyright statements. The group is claiming that this incorrect statement that clearly reaches beyond the rights copyright provides, is harmful to consumers and technology companies. Of course, in the sports leagues' (and other content companies') defense, it appears that plenty of people ignore the bogus copyright warning anyway.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: broadcast, copyright, copyright abuse, mlb, nfl
Companies: mlb, nfl
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
I hope...
If that's their strongest defense, I don't see why they should win, other than from moronic and/or paid judges.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Wow (c), sanity comes to the government(c);
My bet is the broadcast and the copyright(c) notices will continue, ignoring the governement(c) request(c).
The opinions expressed(c) herein(c) are solely the property of the opined(c), whatever opined means(c).
Oh, yeah, first(c).
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Wow (c), sanity comes to the government(c);
Which is also copyrighted by the opiner(c).
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
About Time...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
Let's you you back up this ridiculous attempt to connect the two.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
EULAs next please
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Amazing...
The NFL is so obsessed with control that it is sickening. I am glad that I am one who embraces the information age and adapts appropriately. I will never engage in an information war with my customers. I will sell my tangible goods and release the digital ones.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Incredible...
If you have WSJ access, read this article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118454824975767224.html
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Question for the professionals?
If I were to project a 4o foot image of an NFL game in a public place using the signal from the local over the air broadcaster, should I be waiting for the Gestapo to show up? I learned in college that the airwaves belong to the public and are policed by the FCC. Am I wrong? If I setup a 2 mile long coax or satellite dish and then did it I would understand. But these air the public airwaves, aren't they?
Seriously. Any tidbits and advice would help.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Question for the professionals?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Question for the professionals?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Question for the professionals?
The bar equivalent would be if a sports bar bought all its TVs from Walmart and then showed sports games without a license - in that case you wouldn't be able to sue Walmart or the installations company
Another example would be if a hire car were used in a robbery - you wouldn't sue the hire company
I think that as long as he's not selecting the channels himself and isn't making money by directly renting these units as 'sports view' he should be OK. It would probably also help if he informed your customer somewhere that use of the units for the purpose of viewing sporting feeds etc without a license may make them liable for infringment
I'm not a lawyer (just an IT guy) buts that's the way it plays out in my head
[ link to this | view in chronology ]