Murphy case: Copyright issue left open
The advice follows the ruling in both the QC Leisure and Karen Murphy case, which said that Murphy was wrongly convicted for her use of Greek channel Nova.
However, the ruling of Lord Justice Kitchin in the QC Leisure case suggested that importers of European satellite systems may have been in breach of copyright by allowing foreign broadcasts to be shown.
The Premier League and Sky have already said they will continue to prosecute anyone showing games using their copyright.
“If you show nothing else but the football you are not liable for prosecution,” Coulson said. “If you can find a supplier with no copyright material, you cannot be prosecuted. However, it might be difficult to find such a supplier.”
Andrew Nixon, Sports Group Associate for Thomas Eggar LLP, said the Murphy ruling must not be used as “carte blanche” for publicans to show Premier League matches.
He said on the back of the QC Leisure case: “The Premier League can still use its copyright in the parts of the broadcast that contain works to bring individual actions against publicans.”
Last week lawyer Paul Dixon, from Molesworths Bright Clegg, who represented Murphy, admitted there was still some copyright issues.
He said: “My message to pubs would be to look at the judgment from Lord Justice Kitchin, take proper advice on it, then consider how best to proceed.”
Appealing against convictions
Coulson said the question of whether previously convicted publicans can appeal against their convictions, or have them quashed is still unclear.
The “general view” is that such convictions recorded prior to the European Court ruling will stand — meaning hosts will not be able to claim back their fines or appeal their conviction.
However, this is also a ‘relevant offence’ under the Licensing Act, which could affect their livelihood as offences can be conveyed by the court to the licensing authority for inclusion on the licensing record, although Coulson believes it may be possible to remove those records in some circumstances.
