Sky ad warning pub landlords about infringing football copyrights

The advert, which has already appeared in the Morning Advertiser, contains a statement from the Premier League relating to recent legal disputes at the European Court of Justice (ECJ) and UK High Court over landlords' use of foreign satellite decoder systems when showing the games. The statement said that the rulings by those courts enable the Premier League to take legal action against landlords that infringe their copyright.

"Following the ECJ's judgment on the use of foreign satellite systems to screen live Premier League football in pubs, the UK courts have now ruled on the issue. In response to this clarification by the UK courts, the Premier League has now confirmed that it is able to prevent the unauthorised use of its copyright," the advert said.

"[The Premier League] said: 'Lord Justice Kitchin's judgment 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," the advert said. "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. The Premier League has stated that no broadcasters other than Sky and ESPN are authorised to broadcast copyrighted material within Premier League matches to the public in the UK."

The advert will shortly appear in four other trade publications, including Pub & Bar magazine and Scottish Licensed Trade News, a spokesperson for Sky told Out-Law.com.

A spokesman for the FAPL said that Sky had asked it for permission to use its statement as part of its ad and that the ad had been "put together with the Premier League's support".

Earlier this month the High Court ruled that showing FAPL matches on screens in pubs using foreign satellite decoders would infringe the FAPL's film copyright except that landlords could rely on a specific defence in the UK's Copyright, Designs and Patents Act (CDPA) and would not be liable for infringing the copyright in the visual elements of the film and its soundtrack, such as live commentary and crowd noise, if it did not charge customers to enter the pub to watch the games.

That defence does not apply to copyrighted sound recordings or to graphics or logos shown on the screens, though, making it hard for pubs to show games without infringing copyright unless they can obtain a feed of the game without broadcasters' additional material.

The Court had previously determined that "the defence is limited to the free showing or playing in public of a broadcast, and certain sound recordings and films included in it" but that landlords would still be regarded as having infringed on the FAPL's rights if they showed logos, graphics and other ancillary copyright works contained in the broadcasts.

In its latest ruling the Court also determined that the FAPL 'anthem' that accompanies elements of broadcasters' coverage of matches was also outside the scope of the defence, meaning landlords that play broadcasts of the anthem out loud would be liable for copyright infringement. The defence applied only to the sound recording of the anthem, not the anthem as a musical work in itself.

The FAPL has brought cases against some pub landlords claiming that they were liable for copyright infringement when they showed coverage of matches without having a legitimate licence to broadcast the games in the UK.

Broadcasters pay significant sums to the FAPL to be allowed to show the games in the UK, but the games are also filmed and packaged for foreign audiences. Broadcasters abroad pay to show those games. Companies such as Sky in the UK charge viewers to watch games, with subscriptions for pubs being significantly higher than those for households.

Some UK pubs have chosen to install foreign satellite decoders in order to transmit matches shown by foreign broadcasters rather than pay Sky. FAPL has claimed that the activity infringes their copyright and that two companies providing the satellite decoders, QC Leisure (QC) and AV Station plc (AV), were also liable for that infringement. AV has subsequently gone out of business.

However, Lord Justice Kitchin said that pub landlords and foreign satellite decoder providers "must be entitled to carry on their businesses in a way which avoids infringement of FAPL's copyrights if they are able to do so".

Kim Walker, expert in copyright law at Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com, said at the time of the ruling that landlords could use the decoders legitimately subject to it being technically possible. If the landlords could obtain a "clean feed" of the action without graphics or the other "ancillary" copyrighted works, sound was only played out during game-time, and customers were not charged entry to their pub, they would avoid infringing on the FAPL's rights.

Since the High Court's ruling Euroview Sport Limited, a company that provides foreign satellite decoder services, has withdrawn its service to landlords. The company posted a legal notice on its website that said it would alter its service in order to avoid infringing copyright.

"[Following the High Court ruling in the QC Leisure case] there is now the prospect that companies providing a service that allows the 'communication to the public' of any such artistic works could cause their customers to be liable for copyright infringement," the Euroview statement said.

"To fully protect the business of its customers Euroview Sport is now investing in making changes to its service which will ensure that it offers a risk free solution which does not infringe the rights of the FAPL or any other third party. Until these changes are fully effected Euroview has made the decision to temporarily suspend its services," it said.

It warned customers that it would take time for it to withdraw all its services and that those that continue to use its service beyond 10 February "do so at [their] own risk".

"The QC Leisure ruling makes it clear that the Premier League can protect itself against the unauthorised use of its copyright by UK pubs using EU satellite decoder cards and the suppliers of those cards," a spokesperson for Sky told Out-Law.com. "Working with the Premier League and other broadcasters, Sky will continue to do all it can to protect its commercial customers by taking action against those who do not have an appropriate subscription".

The Sky spokesperson said the action Sky would pursue would be against UK pubs using household subscriptions for commercial purposes.