Pub landlady wins right to show football with foreign decoder

The Premier League have lost their case in the European Court of Justice (ECJ) against a pub landlady in England who used a foreign decoder to show live matches at 3pm on Saturdays.

The ruling by the ECJ could have major implications for how the Premier League sell their broadcast rights both in Europe.

The ECJ said in a statement: “A system of licences for the broadcasting of football matches which grants broadcasters territorial exclusivity on a member state basis and which prohibits television viewers from watching the broadcasts with a decoder card in other member states is contrary to EU law.”

But today’s verdict also warned: “The screening in a pub of football-match broadcasts containing protected works requires the authorisation of the author of those works.”

Such “protected works”, said the judges, could include the opening video sequence or the Premier League anthem, which is a matter for copyright.

The case came to the ECJ after Portsmouth publican Karen Murphy appealed after losing a court action brought against her by the Premier League for using the Greek satellite decoder.