Broadcasters look to copyright protection after European decoder ruling
Broadcasters of live sport, like BSkyB and ESPN, may look to copyright law to protect the value of their television offerings after the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled that consumers can use foreign TV decoders to watch sports in the UK.
The case began after a pub landlady in Portsmouth bought a Greek decoder card to transmit Premier League soccer. This meant she was paying less than she would have using a UK card, because Sky (who purchased the bulk of the TV rights from The Premier League) charges more in the UK than in Greece.
The court ruled that the Premier League and broadcasters could not get special treatment, that free competition and movement of goods and services in the EU meant that there is no way to prevent UK customers buying foreign decoder cards, and that absolute territorial exclusivity for sports rights is not permissible.
However, the court did offer some hope to the league and the broadcasters, saying that those wanting to transmit a broadcast may need permission from The Premier League for any copyrighted material surrounding the broadcasts (music, highlights etc).
This opens the possibility of increasing the amount of copyrighted material featured in a given broadcast to ensure that those using foreign decoder cards might be in breach of copyright law if they don’t have The Premier League’s permission.
