Super Bowlseason is in full swing , which means it ’s time to get inundated with ads for everything from cock-a-hoop screen TVs to pizza billet promoting deals related to America ’s biggest sporting issue . But there ’s one significant phrase neglect from those ads and you probably did n’t even notice . That idiom is " Super Bowl . " That ’s because wildcat commercial use of the phrase is a surefire way to cease up receiving a cease and desist letter ( a formal request to turn back using the phrase ) — or possibly even a straight - up case from the NFL .
" This is a normal thing for enceinte troupe to do , " says Paul Anderson , director of Marquette University ’s National Sports Law Institute . " The Super Bowl is just such a huge issue and a huge event that it garner a lot of aid . "
The Super Bowl is aregistered trademarkof the NFL . And the football league also own the copyright to the telecast of the secret plan . That ’s why advertisers utilize unregistered phrases like " the Big Game " or " the football championship " when remove the throat a piece of furniture sales agreement or happy 60 minutes , for instance . The most ill-famed workaround came from the ever - clever Stephen Colbert , who promoted his " Superb Owl " coverage to excuse the fact he was running a # SuperbOwl campaign .
" If you want to watch the game at home , there ’s no exit , " Anderson keep . " But if you have the intent of selling tickets or making money , then the NFL has the right to take legal action . "
That include local bar and even Christian church . In 2007,Fall Creek Baptist Churchin Indianapolis attempted to charge for a Super Bowl company to be restrain in a church service construction . The NFL called a pin on the play and the party was scrapped . This may seem peculiarly draconian , but it ’s all part of the old adage " If we let one mortal do it , then we have to permit everyone do it . " So today it could be a church , tomorrow it could be somewhere bighearted .
The NFLhas clear up some of the rulesregarding churches and Super Bowl parties since then . For illustration , churches can hold catch parties , but they ca n’t charge admission , though they can take up a collecting to defray monetary value . They can even refer to the event as a " Super Bowl " party but they ca n’t habituate any NFL or Super Bowl logos .
Bars and other businesses can show the Super Bowl on TV , says Anderson , but they ca n’t promote that they ’re showing the biz with the aim of having people come and grease one’s palms food , because that ’s using the Super Bowl name to garner revenue . ( Hence the workarounds , like the tweet below . ) They also ca n’t commit admission to consider the plot .
So , would HowStuffWorks get sue for using the idiom in this very article ? Not so fast . Journalists can use the phrase as it fall under sightly use laws . " nominated fair use " essentially state that copyrighted cloth can be used for sure purpose — unfavorable judgment , teaching and news coverage — when there is no better way to cite to the full term in doubtfulness and it ’s not being used in a commercial-grade sense . So , because we ’re reporting on the Super Bowl , there ’s no issue . But if we were to try on to do a game show for the secret plan , we ’d have to write something like , " Win a Free Cookie for the large NFL Championship Game " instead .
