Google
 

Friday, February 1, 2008

Discussing the NFL's private use policy

Found in this morning's Washington Post:

"The NFL said, however, that the copyright law on its games is long-standing and the language read at the end of each game is well known: 'This telecast is copyrighted by the NFL for the private use of our audience. Any other use of this telecast or any pictures, descriptions, or accounts of the game without the NFL's consent is prohibited.'"

I'm sure we all remember hearing this, though isn't it at the end of the game? That seems a little backwards. Maybe it's in that little montage right before kickoff. I don't remember anymore. But here's one, especially for your lawyerly types - how do blogs work? Can I write a blog entry about this game? Perhaps on my personal blog, I'm not looking to make any money, though the company that hosts my blog and inserts ads on the page is. And what about bigger sports blogs such as TBL, Deadspin, etc. that (I assume) make a bit of profit on ads? Do they actually have rights from the NFL to blog about the game? Live blogs of events would certainly count as descriptions or accounts of the game.

Related: Blogger shut out of media day