THE SIDELINES : Pan Am Games TV Suit Settled

The Treasury Department said today it has settled a year-old lawsuit filed by Capital Cities/ABC Inc. regarding royalty payments to Cuba in connection with the broadcast of the 1991 Pan American Games.

Terms of the settlement allow ABC Sports to make limited payments to Cuba for goods and services provided by Cuban nationals during the broadcast of the games next year.

Such payments have been prohibited under a comprehensive U.S. economic embargo against Cuba.

The government said ABC’s proposal for live coverage of the games included an indirect royalty payment of $6.5 million to Cuba for the exclusive U.S. broadcasting rights.

The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control had rejected ABC’s application to broadcast the games because of the proposed royalty payment.