Rules for hosting Olympics public-viewing events in local bars?
September 1, 2013 10:11 AM Subscribe
When the Olympics come around, often bars will host viewing events. Are there official rules for how to make this happen? Can any bar with a TV host network viewing or stream from online? Can the bar or organizer publicize it as an Olympics viewing event? Can the organizers broadcast the games and overlay their own commentary?
I am queer and live in San Francisco, and I do not favor boycotting the Olympics, but rather making this Olympics as queer as possible. Despite the dangers involved, I'm hoping the games will include shows of protest by courageous athletes and attendees with a worldwide audience and that it will be an opportunity to call attention to Russian anti-gay thuggery.
Though I can't afford to go to the games, I'd like to make a local effort to queer the Olympics. I'm wondering if it is possible to organize Olympics viewing events at a local gay bar and publicize them as queer Olympics events. Are there guidelines for this kind of thing? (For instance, I imagine one can't publicize the event using official Olympics logos.) Can broadcasts be edited for the sake of a customized wrap-up show (or an existing wrap-up show on TV be broadcast but replacing the commentary by a couple talented drag queens)? Could such an event include parody sponsorship ads and theme drag shows? An opening ceremony featuring bears and leather?
I know people who organize events and theme nights at some of the local bars. I'd like to propose an event like this, but I'd like to be able to point to specific regulations, where they exist, as the Olympics people are renowned for being litigious and threatening.
I am queer and live in San Francisco, and I do not favor boycotting the Olympics, but rather making this Olympics as queer as possible. Despite the dangers involved, I'm hoping the games will include shows of protest by courageous athletes and attendees with a worldwide audience and that it will be an opportunity to call attention to Russian anti-gay thuggery.
Though I can't afford to go to the games, I'd like to make a local effort to queer the Olympics. I'm wondering if it is possible to organize Olympics viewing events at a local gay bar and publicize them as queer Olympics events. Are there guidelines for this kind of thing? (For instance, I imagine one can't publicize the event using official Olympics logos.) Can broadcasts be edited for the sake of a customized wrap-up show (or an existing wrap-up show on TV be broadcast but replacing the commentary by a couple talented drag queens)? Could such an event include parody sponsorship ads and theme drag shows? An opening ceremony featuring bears and leather?
I know people who organize events and theme nights at some of the local bars. I'd like to propose an event like this, but I'd like to be able to point to specific regulations, where they exist, as the Olympics people are renowned for being litigious and threatening.
The parody defence (and claims of fair use in general) is harder for trademarks than copyright, and especially hard for the explicit carve-out for Olympic symbols and terminology at the behest of the IOC. (Here's the UK equivalent.) Furthermore, the Supreme Court judgment that forced the Gay Olympics to become the Gay Games states that "Congress granted word-use authority beyond the power to enforce a trademark."
So the standard toolkit of fair use doesn't apply here, there's court precedent considering and dismissing fair use, and if you wanted to challenge on the specifics of parody, then you'd need a lot of money to spend on lawyers.
posted by holgate at 1:38 PM on September 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
So the standard toolkit of fair use doesn't apply here, there's court precedent considering and dismissing fair use, and if you wanted to challenge on the specifics of parody, then you'd need a lot of money to spend on lawyers.
posted by holgate at 1:38 PM on September 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Consider the possibility of talking endlessly about Russia whenever you publicize whatever you do. They probably have a rule about using "Sochi," but I doubt references to an entire country will pass muster with the courts.
It might actually be more fun to do it this way. Lots of talking around it, lots of using phrases that are sure to annoy the Kremlin if they ever actually found out - "Russian QueerFest 2014 (February 7 to 23)" etc. Especially since it's mostly the national government you're mad at anyway, and the community already knows exactly what you're talking about, and most people who think the Russian gay laws are crappy are probably at least aware of the "say the word Olympics and you get sued" thing, if not actually pissed off about it.)
Anyway, do not use the rings, the colors, the word "Olympics," etc. These people have buckets of money and don't play nice, and I would not want to hide behind fair use in this case (they're orders of magnitude worse than the Red Cross, and there's actual life-and-death reasons for the Red Cross thing.) There was even a specific "Gay Olympics" lawsuit, if you can believe that.
(Talk to the bars, etc., about the actual watching of the Olympics broadcasts on their property. I bet that'll be OK. You can probably also get away with "Russian QueerFest" held at coincidentally the exact same time the bar has the Olympics on TV, but I'd shy away from anything that gets much closer - certainly I wound't use phrases like "opening ceremonies," or I'd use them very very carefully, after talking to an attorney.)
posted by SMPA at 1:39 PM on September 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
It might actually be more fun to do it this way. Lots of talking around it, lots of using phrases that are sure to annoy the Kremlin if they ever actually found out - "Russian QueerFest 2014 (February 7 to 23)" etc. Especially since it's mostly the national government you're mad at anyway, and the community already knows exactly what you're talking about, and most people who think the Russian gay laws are crappy are probably at least aware of the "say the word Olympics and you get sued" thing, if not actually pissed off about it.)
Anyway, do not use the rings, the colors, the word "Olympics," etc. These people have buckets of money and don't play nice, and I would not want to hide behind fair use in this case (they're orders of magnitude worse than the Red Cross, and there's actual life-and-death reasons for the Red Cross thing.) There was even a specific "Gay Olympics" lawsuit, if you can believe that.
(Talk to the bars, etc., about the actual watching of the Olympics broadcasts on their property. I bet that'll be OK. You can probably also get away with "Russian QueerFest" held at coincidentally the exact same time the bar has the Olympics on TV, but I'd shy away from anything that gets much closer - certainly I wound't use phrases like "opening ceremonies," or I'd use them very very carefully, after talking to an attorney.)
posted by SMPA at 1:39 PM on September 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: thanks, buds! i'm really liking the 'russian queerfest' idea. making an event all about russia and the olympics and yet doing everything possible to create alternative terms would actually be fun, and it would kind of give it a 'boycott' vibe without avoiding the issue.
posted by fallacy of the beard at 9:29 AM on September 2, 2013
posted by fallacy of the beard at 9:29 AM on September 2, 2013
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You could conceivably act out highlights -- the Guardian did Lego re-enactments of the "global sport event" last year -- but you'd have to be very very careful about avoiding protected terminology and symbols.
I sympathise with your intentions, but if you remember last year's flap between the USOC and Ravelry, which was a storm in a teacup by comparison, it's pretty clear that you'd have the legal heft of the USOC and NBC aimed squarely at you.
posted by holgate at 11:14 AM on September 1, 2013 [1 favorite]