Landlady wins court battle with Premier League

A Portsmouth pub landlady has won her European court battle against the English Premier League over the use of a foreign TV decoder to screen football matches.

The European Court of Justice said an exclusive system of licences that effectively stops fans watching broadcasts using a decoder card from another member state is “contrary to EU law”.

The verdict could mean a major rethink by the Premier League of its current exclusive agreements with Sky Sports, which provides the league with most of its television income, and ESPN.

Perhaps now football will become more affordable for pubs. Brigid Simmonds, British Beer and Pub Association

Karen Murphy took her case to the European Court of Justice after she was ordered to pay almost £8,000 in fines and costs for using a Greek decoder in her pub to screen matches, avoiding the Premier League’s own controls over where its matches are screened.

Some dealers are offering foreign satellite boxes and decoders at prices lower than those of Sky, the holder of the UK broadcasting rights.

Ms Murphy said her six-year legal battle had taken up quite a chunk of her life, but she added: “I am glad I did it.”

Brigid Simmonds, the chief executive of the British Beer and Pub Association, urged UK authorities to clarify the position in UK law so that pubs know where they stand.

“Perhaps now football will become more affordable for pubs, as live sport is a key ingredient of a great pub for millions of customers,” she said.

“The underlying driver of the problem has been the big price hikes that Sky have levied, with a 20 per cent rise last year alone.”

Blow to grassroots sport

But Tory MEP Emma McClarkin warned that the verdict could deliver a blow to the funding of grassroots sport through television rights.

“This is not as simple as a David versus Goliath battle,” she said.

“Money from television rights is funnelled back into developing the stars of the future, and I fear that this ruling will have detrimental effects on our national teams.”

The judgment delivered said: “The Court of Justice holds that national legislation which prohibits the import, sale or use of foreign decoder cards is contrary to the freedom to provide services.”

The judges said that, in trying to justify its restrictions, the Premier League could not claim copyright over Premier League matches themselves, as such sporting events could not be considered to be an author’s own “intellectual creation”.

This means they are not seen as “works” for the purposes of EU copyright law.

Legal opinion
While landlady Karen Murphy has made it possible for individuals to buy satellite equipment from foreign providers, legal experts have said the ruling may not benefit pub landlords wanting to show football.

Toby Headdon, a senior associate in intellectual property at the law firm Berwin Leighton Paisner, told Channel 4 News that the ruling means that Ms Murphy and other individuals can legally buy a decoder from Greece.

"From the individual's perspective, this is fairly good news," he said.

But crucially Ms Murphy may not be able to show the matches to her customers. Mr Headdon said that while the football match is not protected by copyright, other elements of television coverage are. These might include logos, statistics and pre-recorded highlights.

"The Premier League might still go after a pub landlord and charge for these add-ons," he said. "I am sure it will have all these ideas already."

The ruling may also persuade the Premier League to move towards a pan-European system of licensing, he added.