## Facts

- The National Football League (NFL) negotiated network television contracts for member teams, including the St. Louis Football Cardinals.
- Under those contracts, a home game not sold out within 72 hours of kickoff was “blacked out” within a 75-mile radius of the stadium.
- The broadcast production process included a satellite “clean feed” from the stadium before commercials and breaks were inserted into the final network program.
- Defendants operated bar and restaurant establishments within the blackout radius.
- During 1984, defendants used satellite dish antennae or high-powered terrestrial antennas to intercept transmissions of locally blacked-out Cardinals home games and exhibited the games at their establishments to patrons or guests.
- The NFL and Cardinals sued under the Copyright Act of 1976 and § 705 of the Federal Communications Act.
- The district court entered a temporary restraining order, then a preliminary injunction, and after trial a permanent injunction against defendants.
- Defendants appealed, disputing copyright protection, infringement/public performance, applicability of § 705 (including a “home equipment” exemption), and the scope of injunctive relief.

## Issues

1. Whether the live telecasts of Cardinals games, including the intercepted satellite “clean feed,” were protected by copyright held by the NFL/Cardinals.
2. Whether intercepting and exhibiting the telecasts in bar establishments constituted copyright infringement, including unauthorized public performance.
3. Whether defendants’ satellite dish reception fell within § 705’s exemption for equipment “commonly used in private homes,” or instead violated § 705.
4. Whether a permanent injunction was properly entered against each defendant based on the proof of infringement or unlawful interception.

## Decision

- The Eighth Circuit affirmed the permanent injunction and liability findings as to most defendants.
- The court held the game telecasts were copyrightable audiovisual works and that defendants’ commercial exhibitions to patrons constituted infringing public performances.
- The court held the satellite dish systems used by the establishments were not equipment “commonly used in private homes” for purposes of § 705’s exemption, supporting § 705 liability for unauthorized interception and use where proven.
- The court vacated the injunction as to Jerrald Guttmann because his conduct did not amount to a public performance under the Copyright Act.
- The court vacated the injunction as to Frank & Frank, Inc. due to insufficient evidence supporting infringement or a § 705 violation.

## Legal Principles

- A live televised sports broadcast, shaped by camera selection, sequencing, and audio commentary, is a copyrightable audiovisual work.
- The protected work is the telecast of the game; intermediate transmission forms (such as a “clean feed”) do not defeat protection or create a separate nonprotected “work” for interception purposes.
- Commercial exhibition of an intercepted sports telecast to bar patrons constitutes a “public performance” infringing the copyright owner’s exclusive rights.
- The § 705 exemption for equipment “commonly used in private homes” is construed narrowly and does not cover commercial satellite dish systems used by establishments to show otherwise unavailable programming.
- Permanent injunctive relief may issue to prevent continued commercial infringement, but must be limited to defendants against whom infringement or unlawful interception is supported by the evidentiary record.

## Conclusion

The court largely upheld injunctive relief prohibiting St. Louis-area establishments from intercepting and publicly showing blacked-out Cardinals telecasts, finding copyright infringement and (where proven) § 705 violations, but vacated the injunction for two defendants where the proof did not establish a qualifying public performance or actionable interception.


Nat’l Football League v. McBee & Bruno’s, Inc., 792 F.2d 726 (8th Cir. 1986)