Pirates Pirated

As old as ballparks is the box-office problem of the peeping urchin at the knothole. When radio stretches the knothole to fit its public's enormous ear, the problem swells to lawsuit size. Pittsburgh Athletic Co. has banned any broadcasting from the Pittsburgh Pirates' home grounds (similar bans are in force at the Yankee Stadium, Polo Grounds, Ebbets Field). But at the beginning of the baseball season Pittsburgh Athletic Co. sold to General Mills, Inc., Socony-Vacuum Oil Co., Inc., for broadcasting over Stations WWSW and NBC's KDKA (Pittsburgh), exclusive rights for games played by the Pirates away from home.

Much to the annoyance of all parties to this agreement, a third Pittsburgh station, bustling KQV, impudently proceeded to pirate not only the broadcasts of the Pirates' out-of-town games, but of home games as well. The Pirates' owners joined NBC and its two sponsors in an appeal to the courts.

Although KQV ceased broadcasting out-of-town games early in May, its continued airing of home games forced the ball club last month to lift its ban and allow to its sponsors the games KQV was pirating. In Federal district court, KQV, still brash, explained that it had rented space in a building overlooking the ball park, argued that it had a perfect right to broadcast what it saw from its own property. Promptly the Pirates raised a canvas screen to shut off KQV's knothole. To plug the knothole tight, last week Judge F. P. Schoonmaker ruled that the club has a property right in broadcasts of its games, issued a preliminary injunction against KQV's broadcast peepshow.

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