Frank Paiva Jr.

Frank Paiva, Jr., Esq.Divisional Deputy City Solicitor, City Law Department, Philadelphia

Frank Paiva Jr. , divisional deputy city solicitor , argued for the city.He focused on the copyright issue.

[ Bright ] points out that the Eagles claim the networks are the authors , so how could they be paying , Paiva said.
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Paiva said that it might seem odd that the networks are not the authors of broadcast games when network personnel are behind the cameras and it is the networks that decide what angles to shoot and such.

However , he said , in the case of work done for hire , it is the entity for which the work is performed that is the author.

The networks are preparing the copyrighted material for the NFL , Paiva said.The NFL then sells the right to use the copyrighted material to the networks..

Paiva explained why the issue seemed confusing.

[ A football game ] is a live thing going on.It's being telecast , he said.Usually , something is given a copyright when it's completed.Here , they're given the copyright as it's happening.The author is the NFL , and that's why it receives the copyright royalties..

As for the business tax issue , Paiva said , the court must find the media receipts are correctly allocated because they are fees for the right to telecast home games..

Paiva said that Bright assumed Eagles Inc. is a unitary business.But that has never been proved , he said.The lynchpin for deciding proper apportionment is whether a business entity is a unitary business , Paiva said.

If it's not a unitary business , there's no need for apportionment , he said.

Paiva said Eagles Inc. never established a business presence in another jurisdiction.

The Eagles could not pay taxes to any jurisdiction outside of Pennsylvania , Paiva said.The reason is because they are not doing business in other jurisdictions.In order to be doing business there , they'd have to have property there or have an active presence..

Justice Russell Nigro then asked Paiva if the city's teams could be considered to be doing business in other cities during away games.

Paiva said they do not have enough of an active presence.For example , he said , the Eagles team plays in the hometown of its division rivals only once a year.The Eagles play approximately once every six years in the hometowns of nondivision rivals , he said.

If other jurisdictions could tax that way , Paiva said , the city would have all the money it wants because it could tax businesses that send their employees to Philadelphia for seminars or conferences.

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According to the lawsuit, filed by Deputy City Solicitor Frank Paiva, Mylotte David and its general partners failed to pay $899,805 in taxes between Dec. 31, 1994, and June 30, 2004.