NFL, NBA, UFC unite against streaming piracy, calling for government action

Understanding the DMCA: An Overview

The NFL, NBA and UFC have jointly penned a letter to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), urging tougher governmental action against illegal streaming. The sports organizations are demanding the USPTO to revise the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).

The objective is to enable Online Service Providers (OSPs) to swiftly eliminate illegal streams in response to the current scenario where takedowns often occur after the event has concluded. Enacted in 1998 under the Clinton administration, the DMCA predates the era of widespread live streaming on the internet.

The letter highlights that the DMCA’s notice-and-takedown system is not well-suited for dealing with modern piracy linked to the infringement of live content.

“Unfortunately, UFC, NBAP and NFLP’s shared experience is that many OSPs frequently take hours or even days to remove content in response to takedown notices — thus allowing infringing live content to remain online during the most anticipated moments, or even the entirety, of a UFC event or an NBA or NFL game,” the joint letter reads.

The letter also mentions that the sports industry is “losing up to $28 billion in additional potential annual revenue” due to fans choosing pirated streams over paid options. Notably, the NFL’s participation in the letter coincides with its second season of exclusively streaming Thursday Night Football on Amazon Prime Video and its inaugural NFL Sunday Ticket on Google’s YouTube TV.

The letter continues, “The requirement to ‘expeditiously’ remove infringing content means that content must be removed ‘instantaneously or near-instantaneously’ in response to a takedown request. This would be a relatively modest and non-controversial update to the DMCA that could be included in the broader reforms being considered by Congress or could be addressed separately.”

In a media conference call on Wednesday, NFL chief media and business officer Brian Rolapp acknowledged the enduring presence of piracy. Rolapp also appeared to downplay the increased efforts to combat illegal streams, emphasizing the league’s greater priority of enhancing legitimate access.