Murphy foreign satellite case heads to Europe
The judges presiding over Karen Murphy's landmark High Court foreign satellite appeal have today referred the case to Europe.
It follows a decision earlier this week to refer a separate foreign satellite High Court case, involving two suppliers, to the European Court of Justice.
The Premier League is attempting to bring an end to the broadcasting of live Premiership football matches in UK pubs using foreign satellite equipment.
This decision today raises the possibility that both cases will be heard together in Europe - helping settle the battle over foreign satellite football once and for all.
It is also understood the judges will push for the cases to be fast-tracked to the European court, meaning they could be heard in the first half of next year.
However, a Premier League spokesman said publicans should not see this "as an indication that the use of foreign satellite equipment in the UK has been legitimised, given that the Administrative Court in its December judgment found in favour of Media Protection Services (MPS) in relation to copyright law."
He warned: "MPS will continue to investigate and take forward prosecutions in this area."
But Paul Dixon, of legal firm Molesworths Bright Clegg, representing Murphy, said: "It will now be up to the European Court to decide between the interests of millions of EU Citizens (including those who earn their living playing in the Premier League) and the developing European audiovisual area on the one hand, and the attempts by FAPL to shore up an antiquated and damaging system of territorial restrictions on the reception of satellite broadcasts for their private commercial gain."
Murphy, licensee of the Red, White & Blue, Portsmouth, was appealing against a previous Crown Court conviction for showing foreign satellite football.
The first part of her appeal was rejected last December, but the judges agreed to hear her legal team's arguments on European competition law.
The full judgement from the second part of her appeal, which concluded today, is due before the end of July.
