Licensing to commentate professional sports in-real time, without video

[smithseanp16]

I am interested in potential copyright laws in-play for internet radio. The thought would be that a person doing play-by-play on a professional sports game acting as the commentator will be watching the game and broadcasting their voice over the internet.

Is this a violation of intellectual property or licensing agreements?

 

[adjusterjack]

Is this a violation of intellectual property or licensing agreements?

My gut says yes.

Especially if you do if for money.

 

[army judge]

I am interested in potential copyright laws in-play for internet radio. The thought would be that a person doing play-by-play on a professional sports game acting as the commentator will be watching the game and broadcasting their voice over the internet.

Is this a violation of intellectual property or licensing agreements?

You have herad this for NFL games, right?
If not, listen closely near the start of NFL games, or look for the "screenflash".

"Any other use of this telecast or any pictures, descriptions, or accounts of the game without NFL consent is expressly prohibited."

"Any other use of this telecast or any pictures, descriptions, or accounts of the game without MLB consent is expressly prohibited."

"Any other use of this telecast or any pictures, descriptions, or accounts of the game without NCAA consent is expressly prohibited."

"Any other use of this telecast or any pictures, descriptions, or accounts of the game without PGA consent is expressly prohibited."

"Any other use of this telecast or any pictures, descriptions, or accounts of the game without LPGA consent is expressly prohibited."

Or, even these guys say it, too:

"Any other use of this telecast or any pictures, descriptions, or accounts of the game without WWE consent is expressly prohibited."

Bottom line, it'll end up costing you far more than you could ever make with your faux broadcast, play by plays.

Don't do it, mate, unless you want a famous law firm like "Servem, Suem, & Breakem" to come knocking.

This article offers a very detailed explanation as to why your idea could be costly to you:
,
,
,
Any use of this article without the NFL's express written consent is prohibited

 

[Michael Wechsler]

I remember similar issues arising back when I was in law school many years ago and has crossover with live sports statistics and data feeds for pagers (back before the World Wide Web existed and became ubiquitous.) The earliest related decision was actually almost 100 years ago ( International News Service v. Associated Press in 1918) and concerned who owns "hot news" (news that is "hot off the press") for which I recall a limited property right. The second involved Motorola and STATS which provided a paging service for sports scores and whether the facts are subject to copyright law (National Basketball Association v. Motorola). While the NBA case was dismissed for the most part, it doesn't quite extend to what you're doing and I'm not quite sure what you intend to do. You're far from the first to think that the world would prefer to hear a sports fan rather than the sports personalities who may have their own built in conflicts of interest or just may be a major source of drivel. (For example, John Gruden runs his own training camps, etc.)

If you're just providing your own comments on what you think about the game, such as questioning why the coach doesn't bring in the backup quarterback, etc. you might avoid copyright issues and fall into the Fair Use exception. If you're providing a live play-by-play commentary you may be in violation of the league's copyright interest. And if you're at all popular enough and have a revenue stream, you'll almost certainly invite a lawsuit.