Premier League and Sky are in trouble....
4 October 2011 Last updated at 10:48 GMT
Premier League games can be shown on foreign decoders
By Bill Wilson Business reporter, BBC News
A pub landlady has won the latest stage of her fight to air Premier League games using a foreign TV decoder.
Karen Murphy had to pay nearly £8,000 in fines and costs for using a cheaper Greek decoder in her Portsmouth pub to bypass controls over match screening.
But she took her case to the European Court of Justice.
The ECJ now says national laws which prohibit the import, sale or use of foreign decoder cards are contrary to the freedom to provide services.
'Relief'
It said national legislation, which banned the use of overseas decoders, could not "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".
"I'm relieved, very relieved," Mrs Murphy told BBC Radio 5 live.
"It has been a rollercoaster, highs and lows, nerves... It has been a strange time and I am glad it is coming to an end."
Karen Murphy in the Red, White and Blue pub in Portsmouth Karen Murphy used the Greek firm Nova to show Premier League games
She added: "I feel I have taken on the Premier League and Sky."
Mrs Murphy said she no longer had a decoder box in her Red, White and Blue pub and would wait for the "stamp of approval" from the High Court before reinstating it.
The ECJ findings will now go to the High Court in London, which had sent the matter to the ECJ for guidance, for a final ruling.
However, it is unusual for a member state High Court to pass a different judgement from one provided by the ECJ.
'Contingency plans'
The decision could trigger a major shake-up for the Premier League and its current exclusive agreements with Sky Sports and ESPN, and pave the way to cheaper viewing of foreign broadcasts for fans of top-flight English games.
"In practical terms, the Premier League will now have to decide how it wishes to re-tender its rights," said sports media lawyer Daniel Geey of Field Fisher Waterhouse solicitors.
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote
On the face of it, it looks like a blow for the Premier League and... broadcasters Sky and ESPN”
David Bond BBC sport editor
"There can be little doubt it will have contingency plans ready to go and has various options available.
"Be it a pan-EU tender, selling in only certain EU member states or devising a plan to start its own channel, they will be deciding how best to maximise the value of their product to ensure any revenue shortfall is minimised."
The judges said the Premier League could not claim copyright over Premier League matches as they could not considered to be an author's own "intellectual creation" and, therefore, to be "works" for the purposes of EU copyright law.
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.
To use any of these parts of a broadcast, a pub would need the permission of the Premier League.
It remains to be seen whether pubs could broadcast match action without using any of these Premier League "extras" and thus breaching the league's copyright.
'Resilient'
"It's not a decision that the Premier League or its clubs wanted," Wolves chief executive Jez Moxey told BBC Radio WM after the ECJ ruling was made.
Wolves v Newcastle in the Premier League The way games featuring PL teams such as Wolves and Newcastle are broadcast could be set to change
"The Premier League have been aware of the situation and the possibility of the judgement going against them for some time now and have been assessing how it will sell TV rights going forward.
"Football has shown itself to be a resilient business."
He said the Premier's League's financial model had been challenged by the ECJ ruling, and any future sales would need to take the court's decision into account.
'Major blow'
"On the face of it, it looks like a blow for the Premier League and... broadcasters Sky and ESPN," said BBC sport editor David Bond.
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote
In practical terms, the Premier League will now have to decide how it wishes to re-tender its rights”
Daniel Geey Field Fisher Waterhouse
But he said the Premier League had faced many regulatory challenges in the past and would find ways to get round the new situation.
"The League insists the ruling is not clear cut, pointing to a part of the judgment which appears to offer them copyright protection and requiring pubs to seek their permission if they wish to use foreign decoders," added our correspondent.
"It is a confused picture and it is now up to the High Court to try and interpret the judgment. Whatever happens the league is confident it is not about to suffer a major loss in TV income."
Sky has pumped billions into top flight English football since the league was founded in 1992, with the money given to clubs allowing them to buy some of the top names in the world.
The Premier League's television income from mainland Europe is about £130m, less than 10% of their total £1.4bn overseas rights deal.
However, the court decision could have a significant repercussions for other rights holders outside of sport, with life potentially getting more difficult for the film industry, which also sells its product on an country-by-country basis.
Satellite signals
The legal battle kicked off six years ago, when Ms Murphy was taken to court for using the Nova firm to show matches at the Red, White and Blue pub.
Using the Greek service, she had paid £118 a month, rather than £480 a month with the official broadcaster.
Licensed broadcasters encrypt satellite signals, with subscribers needing a decoder card to access them.
Ms Murphy took advantage of an offer to UK pubs to use imported cards.
In February, an ECJ advocate general said this was in line with the aims of the EU single market - a border-free zone for goods and services.
The Premier League has already taken action against two suppliers of foreign satellite equipment and a group of pub landlords who used imported decoding equipment to show English Premier League games and avoided the commercial premises subscription fees for Sky.
