Opinion ID: 427192
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: NAB's Claims Regarding Sports Telecasts

Text: 77 In the 1979 proceeding, NAB took the position that some of the funds distributed to the sports claimants should be allocated to television broadcasters for their copyrightable contributions to the quality of sports telecasts. To this end, NAB introduced evidence attempting to demonstrate the manner in which broadcasters' efforts--such as instant replay, split screens, play-by-play commentary, and video/audio editing--add to the enjoyability of a sports telecast. See, e.g., Tr. 3216-31, JA 1466-81 (videotapes of the 1981 Rose Bowl football game and of a 1981 Dodgers-Cubs baseball game). Although the Tribunal allowed this evidence into the record, it subsequently granted a request by the Joint Sports Claimants for a declaratory ruling that the 1976 Copyright Act forbade the Tribunal from awarding any sports royalty fees to television broadcasters. Specifically, the Tribunal reiterated its view, expressed in its 1978 Distribution Determination, that 78 there is a clear course of action by the Congress [in the 1976 Copyright Act] ... which compels the award of cable royalties for sports programming to the sports league, in the absence of contractual arrangements specifically providing that such royalties shall be distributed to broadcaster claimants. 79 45 Fed.Reg. 63,035 (1980) (1978 Determination); see 47 Fed.Reg. 9,893 (1982) (adopting rationale from 1978 Determination in Tribunal's 1979 Decision); CRT Order, Sept. 30, 1981 (granting JSC request for declaratory ruling). 80 This court's subsequent decision in NAB v. CRT squarely rejected the Tribunal's interpretation of the Act: 81 Although there is some confusion in the legislative history, Congress clearly seemed to contemplate Tribunal recognition of the copyrightable interests [of broadcasters in sports telecasts]: 82 When a football game is being covered by four television cameras, with a director guiding the activities of the four cameramen and choosing which of their electronic messages are sent out to the public and in what order there is little doubt that what the cameramen and the director are doing is what constitutes 'authorship.'  83 675 F.2d at 378 (quoting House Report at 52, U.S.Code Cong. & Admin.News 1976, p. 5665). Given that the Tribunal's evaluation of NAB's claim thus rests on an incorrect legal premise, NAB urges us to remand its claim regarding sports broadcasting to the Tribunal. We agree that a remand is in order; as we stated in NAB v. CRT, the Tribunal has no authority under the Act to ignore valid copyright claims. Id. at 379. Although it is true that the NAB v. CRT court found a remand unnecessary, that decision rested on NAB's failure to introduce evidence in the 1978 proceeding from which the Tribunal could conclude that NAB's interests were of more than a quantitatively de minimis value. Id. As NAB itself admits, In the 1978 proceeding ... the record contained no evidence regarding the value of the relative copyright contributions of broadcasters and sports teams to telecasts of sports events. NAB Brief at 19. In contrast, however, NAB did introduce evidence in the 1979 proceeding which attempted to demonstrate the value of NAB's contributions to sports telecasts. While we recognize that this evidence addresses quality, one of the Tribunal's secondary criteria, we note that the Tribunal has found compensable value in other programs (notably those of PBS and NPR) largely on the strength of this factor. However probative of marketplace value NAB's evidence may prove to be, it is not our role to second guess the Tribunal's distributions; the assessment of NAB's evidence belongs, in the first instance, to the Tribunal. We express no view on the distribution (if any) due broadcasters for their contributions to sports telecasts. 84 In remanding the case to the Tribunal, we also express no view on NAB's assertion that broadcasters are entitled to a specified percentage--either 36.5% or 18.25%--of the royalty fees allocated for sports programming. The bases for NAB's claim are two-fold: (1) that in 36.5% of the 1979 sports telecasts, U.S. television broadcasters created the programs and did not assign the copyrights in those programs to the sports teams; and (2) that television broadcasters are either the sole authors of these broadcasts (entitling them to 36.5% of the Tribunal's allocation for sports) or are one of the joint authors (entitling them to one-half of the royalty fees allocated to these telecasts, or 18.25%). Whatever the merits of this claim, NAB was not permitted to raise it before the Tribunal. Accordingly, the claim is not properly raised, in the first instance, on appeal. See D.C. Transit System, Inc. v. Washington Area Transit Commission, 466 F.2d 394, 413-14 (D.C.Cir.) (judicial review of administrative action limited to matters upon which the agency has had the opportunity to pass), cert. denied, 409 U.S. 1086, 93 S.Ct. 688, 34 L.Ed.2d 673 (1972). Because the Tribunal had previously (and erroneously) precluded NAB from raising ownership claims in the 1979 proceeding, see CRT Order, Sept. 30, 1981, however, we expect that NAB will be allowed to raise its authorship/joint authorship claim to the Tribunal on remand. 85