The English Premier League said it would restart legal action against pubs showing live games from the league via foreign pay-television services without its authorisation, following a UK High Court ruling on Friday.
The High Court ruling took into account the October 2011 ruling by the European Court of Justice in the league’s case against UK publican Karen Murphy and QC Leisure, a company supplying foreign satellite pay-television services to UK pubs. The judge at Friday’s ruling, Lord Justice Kitchin, said he would grant the Premier League an injunction in its favour. The wording of the injunction has not yet been determined, and will be decisive as to the practical impact on pubs.
Both sides of the legal battle declared victory after Friday’s ruling.
The Premier League said: “It is clear that the law gives us the right to prevent the unauthorised use of our copyrights in pubs and clubs when they are communicated to the public without our authority. We will now resume actions against publicans who are using European Economic Area foreign satellite systems to show Premier League football on their premises unlawfully and without our authority.”
Anand Pattani, a lawyer representing QC Leisure and other defendants against the Premier League, said: “Our clients are extremely pleased that, in line with the finding of the European Court, the judgment confirms that the majority of claims against our clients are to be dismissed. Insofar as there has been a finding of infringement relating to a limited number of artistic works our clients also welcome Lord Justice Kitchin’s confirmation that they must be entitled to carry on their business in a way which avoids any such infringement.”
In October, the ECJ ruled that European rights deals could not include clauses restricting rights-holder broadcasters to only offer their services within a particular territory. However, the court also said that any graphics, video sequences and anthems owned by the Premier League could not be shown by pubs through such systems without permission of the league, as this would be an infringement of copyright.
UK pubs have used foreign decoder cards to show Premier League matches at cheaper rates than the Premier League’s domestic broadcast partners BSkyB and ESPN.