Premier League TV case to go to European Court

Complex legal issues surrounding the Premier League’s attempt to block the supply of equipment enabling TV viewers to watch Premiership games on the cheap via foreign broadcasters are to be referred to the European Court of Justice.

A High Court judge in London said today he required guidance from Strasbourg on EC copyright law before he could make a final ruling on the Premier League’s dispute with two companies it accuses of illegally supplying the equipment.

The League’s lawyers told the judge at a hearing in April that QC Leisure and AV Station were supplying domestic decoding cards – allegedly obtained “by deception” from Greece and North Africa – allowing British viewers access to broadcasting services to which they were not entitled.

Premiership football was lawfully available through Sky, which charged a domestic subscription for individuals and a commercial rate for pubs and other public establishments.

The companies claimed that European law allowed the free movement of goods throughout the community and if the cards were available on the market then they could be sold anywhere within the EC.

The case followed a similar action involving pub landlady Karen Murphy last year.

Mrs Murphy, who runs the Red White and Blue pub at Southsea, Hampshire, argued unsuccessfully that she did not commit a crime under domestic laws designed to prevent copyright theft.

She bought a dish, decoder and card that enabled her to receive games from Greek station Nova.

She received live football and use of equipment for about £800 a year, compared with the £6,000 a year she would have had to pay BSkyB.

It could be a year or more before the questions posed by the judge are answered by the European court.