Premier League live football: Pub landlord broke copyright law

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A pub landlord has to pay £65,000 in legal costs for breaching the Premier League's copyright by showing football matches using a foreign satellite card authorised only for private use.

The Premier League took Anthony Luxton to court after various matches were shown at the Rhyddings pub in Swansea.

Key to their case is that the Danish TV pictures used the Premier League logo.

Mr Luxton argued at the High Court that it was an "illicit attempt" to stop foreign decoder cards being used.

He also said that the League's claim foundered on the rock of European Union free trade rules, but this was rejected.

Mr Luxton's solicitor Paul Dixon said after the case: "We will be looking very closely at the possibility of an appeal."

The matches were shown in the pub between September and December 2012.

The League's QC, Helen Davies, claimed the pub breached strict copyright rules by showing live matches using a satellite card, issued by a Danish broadcaster, during which the Premier League's distinctive logo was depicted.

The card was only authorised for use in a private home, said the barrister, "and not for use in commercial premises such as the pub".

"Euro-defence"
There was effectively "communication without consent", she told Mrs Justice Rose.

The League's lawyers argued that the foreign decoder cards could not be used in a "public" setting and that showing the Premier League logos in on-screen graphics was also a clear breach of copyright.

The case reached London's High Court as the League's legal team sought summary judgment against Mr Luxton on the grounds that his defence had no realistic prospect of success.

Miss Davies claimed Mr Luxton's "Euro-defence" was "nothing more than a contrived attempt to avoid the obvious consequences of his conduct".

Following a three-hour hearing, Mrs Justice Rose granted the League's application and made a "declaration of infringement". She also issued an injunction barring further unlawful screenings.

She ordered Mr Luxton to pay £65,000 in legal costs, pending final assessment of sum he owes.

"There is no defence to this claim and summary judgment must be entered," she concluded, dismissing Mr Luxton's case.

The Premier League welcomed the ruling.

A spokesperson said: "We are currently undertaking our largest ever investigations programme and have commenced legal action against several pubs and will continue to do so.

"Only Sky Sports and BT Sport are authorised to show live Premier League football in pubs in the UK and legitimate commercial subscriptions for use in pubs can be obtained from them."

The case was the first of up to 100 prosecutions the Premier League is planning to bring up across Wales and England this season.

Last week, BBC Wales revealed the Premier League's private investigation firm had visited nearly 200 pubs in south Wales in the last four months.

BBC News - Premier League live football: Pub landlord broke copyright law​

 

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Locals speaking out...

PUBS in Swansea have reacted to the news that a city landlord could face a £125,000 legal bill for screening premier League matches.
The Premier League won a copyright case against a hotel which used a foreign satellite card to show Swansea City matches.
The Football Association Premier League Ltd went to court over copyright infringement by Anthony Luxton at the Rhyddings Hotel in Brynmill, where it said various football matches were screened from September to December 2012.

On Thursday Mrs Justice Rose granted the league’s application and issued an injunction stopping more screenings.
Mr Luxton was also hit with a legal costs bill, which could rise to more than £125,000. He was directed to pay £65,000 on account, pending final assessment of sum he owes.

The Premier League is now planning prosecutions against other Swansea pubs which have been showing matches on foreign satellites.
It may result in up to 100 prosecutions across Wales and England this season
One landlord from Swansea, who spoke to the Post anonymously yesterday, said to buy a package with Sky with cost him thousands every month.

He said:
“It is just so expensive.
“Sky has continued to out-bid everyone and have ruined the game.
“They are not interested in selling and helping businesses, but just want to make as much money as possible.
“If we didn’t show Premier League matches at the weekend then trade would be affected.
“Sky is far too expensive.
“The only venues that can afford to show Sky Premier League matches are Varsity and Walkabout.”

One pub landlady from Swansea, who also agreed to speak to the Post on the condition we withheld her name, said if she stopped showing Premier League games she would lose a lot of custom.

She said:
“Showing Premier League games in Swansea is vital for any pub, because trade has gone down during the last year.
“The boost pubs get on match days really helps the businesses.
“Pubs are really struggling and should be allowed to show what they want.
“Match days bring in a lot of trade and I don’t think the Premier League is missing out if we show the games.
“Sky is too expensive to buy but I would lose a lot of custom if I did not show the games.
“It is vital for us.”

Another Swansea landlord said he does not show Premier League football matches because it is too expensive adding that he ‘would love to buy a package’.

Uplands councillor John Bayliss said:
“The law is the law, but I have a lot of sympathy with the Rhyddings, as pubs are hard pressed and in tough economic times at the moment.
“The costs from Sky are extraordinary hard.”

however, one pub landlord in Swansea said they welcomed the prosecution as they have lost trade because people are showing Premier League games illegally.

He said:
“We took Sky out of our pub two years ago because the price kept going up.
“It was costing us £25,000 a year to keep Sky.
“Not showing the Premier League matches has been a major blow to the business.”

People in Swansea have taken to social media sites to give their opinions.
Ceri Bernie Jones wrote on the Post’s Facebook page: “A billionaire industry making an example of a small business.
“Sad times.”

Paul Coombes wrote on the page:
“The pub industry is on its knees. Hefty rent fees from the brewery, ridiculous prices on top of the rent for the beer they must buy from them or face a fine.
“Then you get the ridiculous fees that Sky want them to pay based on the square footage of the pub.”
Alison Dolan, deputy managing director with Sky Business, said: “The price that a pub pays for Sky is based on its rateable value (as determined by the valuation office) to reflect the value that an individual pub can drive from showing our unrivalled content.
“We have invested record amounts in a broad range of rights, the best sports analysts and the highest broadcast quality to ensure our product continues to deliver strong returns for our customers’ businesses.
“In football alone, our rights highlights include the Premier League, UEFA Champions League, Football League, La Liga, Capital One Cup, Scottish Premier League and Scottish Cup.
“We always look to find the most competitive rate for our customers and have introduced a range of discounts over the last 12 months that allow us to tailor pricing to the individual circumstances of each of our customers and the value they can drive from having Sky.
“Pubs wanting to understand more should get in touch – we’re happy to talk through the options with them.”


EDIT: sorry Override was getting a 404 error after clicking that link... so added the story

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[Mick]

More on This...

Pubs in Cardiff and Swansea suspected of showing Premier League football matches illegally using foreign satellites face prosecution, BBC Wales has learned.
In the last four months the Premier League's private investigation firm has visited nearly 200 pubs in south Wales.
The League is planning to bring up to 100 prosecutions across Wales and England this season.
The first will be against The Rhyddings Hotel in Brynmill, Swansea, shortly.
Many south Wales pubs have subscriptions with foreign channels and show Cardiff City and Swansea City's 15:00 GMT Saturday Premier League kick-offs.
These games are unavailable on the Premier League's authorised UK broadcasters - Sky Sports and BT Sport - at the kick-off time.

Copyright law

By showing the foreign channels, the Premier League believes pubs are probably breaking copyright law.
In 2011 Karen Murphy, a Portsmouth pub landlady, won a court case against the Premier League.
The ruling effectively proved it is legal to buy a TV subscription from anywhere in the EU.

However, when a pub or club uses such a subscription to show Premier League football matches, it is breaking copyright law if the League's logo is shown in on-screen graphics, or if the League's anthem is heard before kick-off or at half time.

Tom Richards, a barrister specialising in copyright law, said it was unlikely a pub could screen the games without breaching Premier League copyright.
"The Premier League owns the copyright in its logo, in its anthem and in other bits of sound recording and artwork which are superimposed on any feed of a Premier League match,"
"If you play those in a pub without the Premier League's consent that's copyright infringement in the law of copyright.
"Technically speaking, there is a loophole.
"If you could separate out the copyrighted content, such as the Premier League logo, from the match footage, then in theory you wouldn't be infringing copyright.

Pubs screening matches illegally will be warned first
"In practice it's rather doubtful whether that can be achieved because the Premier League - you can be confident - will make it as hard as possible to separate out the protected from the unprotected content."

Some pubs try to use this loophole by blocking out graphics of the Premier League logo.
But the League says its private investigation firm, ID Inquiries, has not come across any "masking technology" that would stop it taking action against a pub.
So far this season ID Inquiries has visited 195 pubs in the Cardiff and Swansea areas and is planning legal action against "a small number of them".

Black spots

Dan Johnson, the Premier League's director of communications, said: "BT Sport and Sky Sports invest huge amounts of money in the Premier League and that then is in turn invested by the clubs in new stadia, developing players, acquiring players, the whole range of things that make Premier League football so popular.

"So anything that damages the ability of broadcasters to invest in that has the potential to damage the ability of the clubs to invest in that.
"With the advent of Cardiff and Swansea being in the Premier League clearly the interest in Premier League football has gone through the roof in south Wales.
"So, it becomes an area of interest and you can go round the country and you can see these blackspots where Premier League football is of great interest, and people will try and utilise that interest to their advantage, including pubs and clubs.
"We want to help pubs, we want to help educate licensees, and when we go in and find use of foreign satellite systems we'll give them the opportunity to get rid of that system."
"So if in the first instance - they say 'we hear you, we'll get rid of this system and we'll get a legitimate one' - they will face no further action and we don't want to be going round the country prosecuting pubs and licensees.
"However if they choose not to, they face the very real prospect of prosecution."

Mr Johnson says the League expects to bring up to 100 prosecutions this season across Wales and England.
The action against The Rhyddings Hotel in Swansea is the League's first prosecution since the Karen Murphy case and is expected to be heard in the next few weeks.

 

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No probs mick, strange link works fine for me even though it says 404 error...

 

[Mick]

No probs mick, strange link works fine for me even though it says 404 error...

Yeah it seems ok now mate, it was deffo not showing earlier...

mystery

Mick