FACT scores victory against Sky Sports pub
Trade body the Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT) has secured a record fine against a pub showing a Sky Sports televised football match illegally, it has revealed.
The £22,600 ($37,400) penalty was given to the owners of a UK pub who were convicted last month of breaching copyright laws.
Doncaster Magistrates Court found them guilty in their absence after FACT helped to bring them to court.
The fine, which also includes costs, sets a new record following a criminal conviction for illegally showing Sky TV in licensed premises.
It also means FACT has helped to secure fines from pub licensees worth nearly £69,000 since July 1, following 11 successful prosecutions.
Stephen Gerrard, prosecuting manager at FACT, said: “We sometimes hear from licensees that they are prepared to risk a fine of around £5,000 for showing Sky Sports illegally, but this case shows that both licensees, employees and associated companies can each face fines of up to £5,000 for every offence they commit, or each match that they show.
“On top of this, the court can order legal costs to be paid and there is a requirement to inform the local licensing authority of the criminal offence, which can impact their licences—it simply isn’t worth the risk.”
BSkyB, which owns Sky Sports, is the leading broadcaster of Premier League football matches in the UK. FACT said BSkyB is committed to visiting every licensed premise reported by other publicans or organisations for illegally showing Sky, and in total it has arranged to visit more than 700 pubs each week across the UK this season.
Following the conviction, Alison Dolan, deputy managing director at Sky Business, said: “This issue is very close to the hearts of our legitimate Sky pub customers who are being left short-changed by licensees broadcasting Sky content illegally. It creates an uneven playing field for their businesses, which is why we are committed to visiting thousands of pubs this season, as well as investigating suppliers and continuing to support FACT’s work.”
The pub in this case is called Hogan’s Bar, in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, and the men were Simon Barnett and Anthony Ball. Their offence was the dishonest reception of a television transmission without a commercial viewing agreement, with the intent to avoid payment of the applicable charge, which runs contrary to section 297 (1) of the Copyright Design and Patents Act 1988.
Already registered?
Login to your account
If you don't have a login or your access has expired, you will need to purchase a subscription to gain access to this article, including all our online content.
For more information on individual annual subscriptions for full paid access and corporate subscription options please contact us.
To request a FREE 2-week trial subscription, please signup.
NOTE - this can take up to 48hrs to be approved.
For multi-user price options, or to check if your company has an existing subscription that we can add you to for FREE, please email Adrian Tapping at atapping@newtonmedia.co.uk