Pub landlady scores victory in TV rights ruling

October 4, 2011   ·   0 Comments

A pub landlady has won her fight to air Premier League games using a foreign TV decoder – a move that could potentially have a major effect on the way fans watch football in the UK. 

Karen Murphy had to pay nearly £8,000 in fines for using a Greek satellite decoder in her Portsmouth pub to bypass controls over match screening, prompting her to take the case to the European Court of Justice.

The ECJ subsequently ruled that national laws which prohibit the import, sale or use of foreign decoder cards are contrary to the freedom to provide services and could not be justified either by the protection of “intellectual property rights or by the objective of encouraging the public to attend football stadiums”.

Karen Murphy, landlady of the Red, White and Blue pub in Southsea said, “It’s been the battle of the little guy,” before adding, “These corporate people feel they can throw money at things and just win.”

Later, The Premier League has issued a statement on the European Court of Justice Judgment, which reads :

“This is clearly a complex issue, one that the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has spent a significant amount of time considering.

“The ECJ judgment responds to 18 specific questions referred by the UK High Court. They have now answered these questions in terms of how European Law applies. It is now for the High Court to consider how the ECJ judgment affects the cases in question.

“On the broader points that could flow from the ECJ judgment; the areas of law involved are complicated and necessarily we will take our time to digest and understand the full meaning of the judgment and how it might influence the future sale of Premier League audio-visual rights in the European Economic Area.

“We are pleased that the judgment makes it clear that the screening in a pub of football-match broadcasts containing protected works requires the Premier League’s authorisation. Currently only Sky and ESPN are authorised by the Premier League to make such broadcasts.

“The Premier League will continue to sell its audio-visual rights in a way that best meets the needs of our fans across Europe and the broadcast markets that serve them but is also compatible with European Law.”

Tags: ECJ, EPL, ESPN, Karen Murphy, Premier League, Sky Sports