Waiting for a satellite ruling
Not such a good week for the satellite suppliers, it seems, in spite of their new policy of launching attacks on elements of the Sky operation.
It appears that they will do anything to avoid facing up to the main copyright issue which underpins Sky's rights to the screening of live premiership matches in pubs. And I fully understand that licensees who are fed up with Sky's prices would very much like to believe all the other diversionary stories.
It is therefore something of a pity for the whole debate if the High Court turns down the Murphy appeal because of a slip-up by the solicitor involved. I do not think this was deliberate - I think it is a scenario that many solicitors in private would recognise. Trying to meet tight deadlines may not always be successful: you only have to look at licensing transition to realise that.
But even if Karen Murphy is not the chosen vehicle for a definitive ruling, I do not think it will be long before the matter does go to the senior judges. It is, after all, in everyone's interests to have a binding pronouncement from the courts, even if several of us still think the legal position is entirely clear. Antipathy towards Sky and its policies cannot obliterate the fact that Mr Murdoch has paid out many millions of pounds for this right, whereas the satellite suppliers have paid out little or nothing. If you take someone else's copyright it is theft, pure and simple. And nicked stuff is always cheaper if you are the mug that buys it off the back of the lorry, no questions asked.
To succeed on this issue, European Satellite Television Association (Esta) would have to show that the copyright laws were fundamentally flawed, which would affect not just TV rights but all kinds of other intellectual property rights which are worth billions of pounds in themselves. Copyright is not just a British thing: it is universal, applied in various ways throughout the world, with several international agreements in place. As I commented before, I don't like Disney owning Winnie the Pooh outright, but I'm old-fashioned! That's the modern world of product and image licensing for you.
I just add my usual warning to licensees that you are treading on dangerous ground to think that you will entirely avoid prosecution if you use a foreign satellite to show Premier League football. And no insurance will cover you against conviction and possible loss of your premises licence, that's for sure.
