Specter Bill Would Protect Super Sunday for Churches

National Football League Has Warned Houses of Worship Not to Hold Super Bowl Parties

By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 2/5/2008 2:57:00 PM

As promised, Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) is introducing a bill that would allow churches to hold Super Bowl viewing parties without violating copyright law.

Specter said the National Football League has in recent years cautioned churches that such parties -- which use the big screens "normally used for displaying hymns" to show the games, Specter said -- violate restrictions on public exhibitions of copyrighted works.

"For years, houses of worship across this country have opened up their doors and welcomed their congregation into their halls for social purposes to watch the Super Bowl," Specter told his Senate colleagues. "They have provided families with an alternative to going to the local bar down the street to cheer for their favorite team. However, if the National Football League has its way, such gatherings will come to an end."

Specter conceded that a strict reading of the law makes those exhibitions, and virtually any large group, a violation, but also pointed out that there is an exemption for those local bars and food establishments and that he thinks there should be one for religious establishments, as well.

In a statement for delivery on the Senate floor, Specter said, "In a time when our country is divided by war and anxious about a fluctuating economy, these type of events give people a reason to come together in the spirit of camaraderie. We, Congress, need to recognize the unique need that these events satisfy and provide religious establishments with the protection that they need."

He added that he consulted with First Amendment scholars who said the change would not run afoul of the Establishment Clause of the Constitution.

The bill would not allow the church to tape the game for later showing or rebroadcast to another venue. It also would not allow them to charge money to get in or any money to change hands during the game -- say a 50-50 fund-raiser, for instance.

“In other words," Specter said, "the legislation simply provides churches with a limited yet justifiable exemption to allow them to bring their congregation together to watch the Super Bowl."

NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said the NFL would "explore" Arlen's proposed extension of the exemption, but pointed out that sports bars and restaurants got the exemption because they were in the business of showing TV sports.

"We are protecting our network partners," he says, "and it is copyright law."

He also said that the NFL "hasn't sent letters to churches and has "never investigated a church. We've never gone after a church," he told B&C. He says the NFL has responded when churches ask for guidance. That guidance, he says: "Don't charge admission--the game is on for free--and use TV's of the size commonly found in homes," which according to copyright law is defined as under 55 inches.

The NFL also responds when one of its TV partners complains. The NFL did get a complaint last year about a church in Indianapolis, he says. "So, we sent something in writing to the [church] explaining the policy," said McCarthy.

"There is nothing new here," he said. "It is the same policy, same copyright law, that we have been following for years, that HBO follows, that every network programmer follows."

McCarthy says that Rep. Heath Schuler (D-NC), formerly an NFL quarterback for the Redskins and Saints, had expressed concern to the NFL about the issue after the Washington Post ran a story last week about the issue.