Swansea licensee granted appeal over Premier League copyright case

By Mike Berry

- Last updated on GMT

The Premier League has been cracking down on illegal broadcasts
The Premier League has been cracking down on illegal broadcasts
A Swansea pub licensee fined £65,000 for breaching copyright law by showing Premier League football using a foreign satellite card has been given permission to appeal the judgment.

In January last year Anthony Luxton of the Rhyddings Hotel in Swansea was ordered to pay the damages, together with legal costs. The court also awarded an injunction against the premises barring further unlawful screenings.

However last week the Court of Appeal in London granted Luxton permission to appeal. The case will now proceed to a full appeal hearing at a later date, most likely in the autumn of 2015.

At the hearing of his appeal, Luxton will, according to his solicitor, argue that “the Premier League cannot use its copyright to prevent EU cross border trade in broadcasting services simply to bolster a UK monopoly in favour of Sky and BT”.

The Premier League has been ramping up its enforcement activity against pubs and bars across England and Wales that are broadcasting matches without a legitimate commercial agreement. An enforcement campaign against suppliers of unauthorised systems is also underway.

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