Super Stupidity

For chrissakes. Unbelievable.

If any house of worship -- or nearly anyone else, for that matter -- intends to show Sunday's Super Bowl game on a large screen for a group of people, the league says you are violating its copyright.

...

The league bans public exhibitions of its games on TV sets or screens larger than 55 inches because smaller sets limit the audience size.

"We have no objection to churches and others hosting Super Bowl parties as long as they ... show the game on a television of the type commonly used at home," NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said. "It is a matter of copyright law."

Large Super Bowl gatherings around big-screen sets outside of homes shrink TV ratings and can affect advertising revenue, McCarthy said. The section of copyright law giving the NFL protection over the content of its programming exempts sports bars, he said.

http://www.startribune.com/sports/vikings/15107066.html

So in other words, if you want to host a Super Bowl gathering at your community center, or at a church, just get a half-dozen 42" plasma screens and scatter them throughout the building. One can only hope that next year the NFL will decides it's against copyright law to watch a public broadcast on public television unless you swear on a stack of bibles that you promise to buy at least five items that are advertised during the game -- one during each quarter, and one during halftime -- to ensure that they're able to maximize their advertising revenue.