Five Scottish pubs slapped with £50k bill in damages for illegal Sky showing

Each pub has been ordered to pay £10,000 in damages and fund the placement of notices in local and trade publications advertising the ruling.

The pubs are Cheerz in Falkirk, the Horseshoe Bar in Ayr, the Dixon Arms in Glenrothes, the Mill Inn in Falkirk, and the Gables in Glasgow.

Sky head of commercial piracy George Lawson said illegal broadcasting of sporting events was damaging to the pub trade​ which is why Sky is “committed to protecting customers who are unfairly losing business due to this illegal activity”.

Hefty financial consequences for fraudulent activity

He added: “There have already been numerous cases this football season of licensees who face hefty financial consequences for this type of fraudulent activity.

“These latest orders demonstrate how seriously the courts take piracy through the large penalties applied, but also through the order to find the advertising, which we hope will help to highlight the consequences of televising Sky’s content illegally.”

Sky sought and was awarded permanent interdicts in Scotland’s supreme civil court, the Court of Session in Edinburgh.

Record fine for residential viewing card

The court prevents licensees and anyone acting on their behalf from infringing Sky’s copyright by showing Sky programming without the correct commercial licence.

In May last year former licensee of the Eccleson Arms in Merseyside Elizabeth Polding was hit with a record £85,307.17 fine​ after being caught showing Sky Sports illegally at the pub with a residential viewing card.

Sky Sports is only available to licensed premises in mainland UK via a commercial viewing agreement directly from Sky Business.