Satellite suppliers ignore ruling

Related tags Foreign satellite Premier league British sky broadcasting

Foreign satellite suppliers are continuing to sell equipment to pubs despite High Court judges ruling against licensee Karen Murphy in the landmark...

Foreign satellite suppliers are continuing to sell equipment to pubs despite High Court judges ruling against licensee Karen Murphy in the landmark football case.

That is according to the European Satellite Television Association (Esta), which has promised to ratchet up its fight against Sky's dominance of screening Premiership football in pubs following the verdict.

This includes taking a delegation of five licensees and satellite suppliers to Brussels to argue the legal case in a meeting with EU competition officials. The visit is planned for next month.

This week, Esta urged its member licensees to write to Sky saying they are cancelling their subscription in favour of foreign satellite systems, using a template letter headed "Give Sky the Red Card".

Just before Christmas, the group sent a complaint to the Office of Fair Trading relating to the contract between Sky and the Premier League.

Murphy, of the Red, White & Blue in Portsmouth, was appealing against her conviction for screening Premier-ship football via Greek channel Nova Supersport.

Lord Justice Pumfrey and Mr Justice Stanley Burnton ruled on 21 December that the satellite signal was broadcast from England and the

fee payable was to Sky and not to Nova.

But the pair gave Murphy's team a glimmer of hope - they are to be allowed a day to argue their case under European competition law.

No date has been set for the hearing. Lord Pumfrey will not be involved; he died of a stroke on 24 December.

Esta chairman Colin McGhee said it was business as usual for providers of foreign satellite systems.

"I don't know any satellite providers that have said they are stopping selling their products. They all still be-lieve they have a right to sell their products."

McGhee said only a decision in Europe will finally settle the legal issue of foreign satellite screenings. "We haven't yet begun the fight," he added. "This half-result is only the beginning of the war."

l Last throw of the satellite TV dice - p16

Crackdown

A hotbed of foreign satellite screening in north-west England is to be targeted this year.

A north-west branch of Media Protection Services (MPS), which investigates foreign screenings, is to open, headed by a former Merseyside police detective-inspector.

Meanwhile, pending prosecutions for foreign satellite screenings are to continue following the Murphy verdict, MPS boss Ray Hoskin said.

He added: "[Esta] offered licensees insurance policies against convictions and will now have to pay out. It is also giving hosts door stickers barring my staff, making it easy to spot pubs using the systems."

Response to the Murphy verdict

Premier League spokesman Dan Johnson

"We are extremely pleased that the High Court has endorsed the judgments of the Crown and Magistrate Courts as well as the position consistently presented by the Premier League and Media Protection Services to the licensed trade.

"We hope that licensees and others will

now heed the advice of the courts and accept that the use of foreign satellite systems to screen Premier League football in the UK is copyright theft, pure and simple.

"It has never been our desire to prosecute individual licensees, but where the law has been repeatedly ignored we have been left with little choice but to seek recourse to the courts. This will remain the case going forward.

"We will also continue our actions against the suppliers of illegal foreign satellite systems, and would welcome any information from the trade regarding either of these activities."

Murphy's solicitor, Paul Dixon

of Molesworth Bright Clegg

"It would be foolish for any party to reach

any conclusions or make any assertions

based on the judgment which has been handed down today, because we are only halfway through the appeal.

"We have always said that this case is all about European law, and the High Court has not yet heard argument on the EU issues. In the words of Lord Justice Pumfrey, these issues are of 'central importance' to the case.

"In footballing terms, we are in the half-time interval, and every football fan knows that the game is never over and nor is the result certain until the final whistle."

MA legal editor Peter Coulson

"On all the main points he (Pumfrey) dismissed the appeal and made it clear that the current copyright laws in the UK were consistent with EC legislation.

"It seems likely, on reading the judgment, that we are into the second half of extra

time, and that Mrs Murphy and her team

are three goals down.

"I would not advise any licensees to persist with foreign satellite transmissions of this kind, as they clearly risk further prosecution."

Geoffrey Theobald, chairman of local government co-ordinator LACORS

"It is vitally important that all licensees are aware of the law when it comes to showing live football.

"The vast majority of pubs that show live matches do so legally, but unfortunately it seems some licensees have been duped into buying foreign satellite equipment that is

not only illegal but could get them into serious trouble.

"The ruling clearly shows licensees

that illegally broadcasting Premier League football could land them in court and facing

a hefty fine. There is also the possibility

that they could lose their licence and with

it their livelihood."

Case history: Murphy's law

27 June 2006: Acquitted by Judge Arnold as Murphy had not received the transmission dishonestly. She had a letter from her brewery Gales recommending she took

the Nova system.

26 Jan 2007: Found guilty of two offences relating to breaching the FA Premier League's copyright at Crown Court by Judge Arnold. Fined £8,000.

15 March 2007: Appeals decision in Crown Court. Conviction upheld by Judge Iain Pearson.

29 Nov 2007: High Court appeal commences.

21 Dec 2007: High Court judges Lord Justice Pumfrey and Mr Justice Stanley Burnton dismiss appeal.

Related topics Licensing law Legislation

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