European ruling opens the way for Premier League football to be shown using cheaper foreign decoders.
On the 4th October, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled against the Premier League stating that pubs can show live football matches via foreign (European) television decoders.
This ruling opens the door for millions of households and pubs across the UK to receive cheap screening of live Premier League matches via other EU television companies.
In its judgment the ECJ judges said in a preliminary ruling, that national laws prohibiting the import, sale or use of foreign decoder cards are 'contrary to the freedom to provide services and cannot be justified either in light of the objective of protecting intellectual property rights or by the objective of encouraging the public to attend football stadiums'.
The case was brought by Karen Murphy, a publican in Portsmouth, who was fed up with paying over £7,200 a year to Sky for a commercial licence to screen Premier League games at her pub in Southsea. Instead she bought a satellite dish and decoder from NOVA, a Greek company at a cost of £800 per year.
Mrs. Murphy screened Premier League matches at her pub and was prosecuted by Media Protection Services for an offence under the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988. She was found guilty and fined but she appealed and the Court of Appeal referred the question of the legality of the Premier League’s arrangements to the ECJ.
Copyright issues
However, the ECJ did add that while live matches were not protected by copyright, any surrounding media, such as any opening video sequence, the Premier League anthem, pre-recorded films showing highlights of recent Premier League matches and various graphics, were 'works' protected by copyright.
So should you be ditching your Sky subscription for a cheaper alternative?
I would suggest that it is not quite as straight forward as this and you may want to give me a call to discuss the issues first.
Please call Alexander Bak on 01932 833913 or e-mail: abak@crellinscarter.co.uk
