Pub landlady Karen Murphy wins Sky TV football legal fight

A pub landlady has today won her court battle with the English Premier League over the use of a foreign satellite TV decoder to show games to her customers.

Karen Murphy was forced to pay fines and costs of almost £8,000 after the League launched legal proceedings against her for using a Greek TV decoder service in her Portsmouth pub.



However, Murphy then took her case to the European Court of Justice (ECJ), which found in her favour. In a landmark ruling last October the ECJ said that national laws prohibiting the import, sale or use of foreign decoder cards were "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 has been closely watched because it could trigger a major change in the way television rights to football are sold across Europe, potentially opening the door for foreign broadcasts to be offered in UK commercial businesses.

Murphy was prosecuted by the Premier League six years ago for showing live football in her Red White and Blue pub, but without paying the around-£800-a-month subscription to Sky. It is understood that the Greek service she was using cost just £800 a year.

Following the ECJ ruling last year, the High Court said today that Murphy's appeal over using the foreign decoder to bypass getting a Sky subscription must be allowed. The ruling means that all sides have conceded that Murphy's conviction could not stand.

However, the judge admitted that other issues regarding the broader legality of screening matches would have to be decided "at a later date".

This is thought to refer to the ruling that the Premier League does not hold copyright over actual football matches, but it does own the opening video sequences, the Premier League anthem and pre-recorded highlights or graphics.

As these were all deemed "works" by the ECJ, any pubs wanting to show them would require permission from the Premier League.

Earlier in the month, the Premier League won a ruling in the High Court enabling it to take legal action against pubs on grounds of breach of copyright.

The League took out a civil action against digital box provider QC Suppler and publican SR Leisure Limited, but the case was put on hold after it was referred to the European Court for legal advice, alongside Murphy's case.

On February 3, Lord Justice Kitchin said at the High Court that importers of foreign satellite equipment had breached the Premier League's copyright by allowing pubs to show foreign broadcasts.

The Premier League has since issued a series of adverts warning pubs and clubs that they face legal action if they use foreign decoders to show football.

The ad said: "Lord Justice Kitchin's judgement is consistent with the ECJ ruling. 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."