Pub landlady Karen Murphy wins landmark football broadcasting ruling after six-year battle

4th October 2011, 10:49am

Karen Murphy, landlady of the Red, White and Blue pub in Portsmouth, has today won a landmark case after taking on the English Premier League and its broadcasting controls.

Murphy was fined £8,000 for using a foreign satellite decoder, which allowed her to screen English football matches at a much cheaper rate. Using the Greek service, she had paid £118 a month, rather than £480 a month with the official broadcaster – the likes of Sky or ESPN.

She appealed and the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has today ruled in her favour claiming that Premier League broadcasting rights are against European law.

The ruling said that by not allowing pubs to use decoders from European member states it infringed "the freedom to provide services" and that separate licenses for each country are contrary to EU law.

The EU aims to facilitate a single-market that breaks down national borders allowing goods and services to be provided freely.

The ECJ added that pubs will be allowed to show football matches using foreign decoders – but only if rights holders allow.

It is widely predicted that the Premier League may now have to sell pan-European television rights to accommodate the ruling.

But the ECJ did present a stumbling block to the ruling which may complicate a pub's right to screen Premier League football games.

While live matches are not currently protected by copyright – because the Premier League is not deemed "author of these works" – any opening sequences to football coverage, pre-recorded footage of previous football games and Premier League anthems or graphics do fall under copyright law.

The Premier League is viewed as the author of these elements, which are very common during the broadcast of football programming. To use any of these parts of a broadcast, a pub would need the permission of the Premier League.

Commenting on the judgement, Brigid Simmonds, British Beer & Pub Association chief executive, said: "At last, the end is now in sight to years of uncertainty surrounding this issue. The UK authorities should now very quickly clarify the position in UK law so pubs know exactly where they stand.

"Perhaps now, football will become more affordable for pubs, as live sport is a key ingredient of a great pub for millions of customers. The underlying driver of the problem has been the big price hikes that Sky have levied, with a 20% rise, last year alone. These have been a big drain on pubs."

• Analysts have estimated that Sky could lose £70 million a year in revenue from British pubs as a result of the ruling.

Related Articles:

• 13 Dec 2010 - The Orchid Group doubles investment in SKY+HD across entire estate
• 05 Nov 2010 - Orchid pub group launches website to promote 3D TV screens
• 28 Jan 2010 - Sky to launch live 3D sports channel in pubs this weekend
• 10 Aug 2009 - Pubs in Worcester hit by illegal TV football scams
• 15 Jul 2008 - Sky's price freeze claim clarified

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