A leading North West solicitor has welcomed a court ruling which could bring a halt to the prosecution of publicans over the screening of live Premier League football.
Nama Zarroug, Head of Crime at Merseyside law firm Kirwans, represents a number of landlords accused of screening matches on foreign channels without paying Sky TV which holds exclusive rights to show top flight games in the UK.
Most of the prosecutions are brought on behalf of Sky or the Premier League by the Media Protection Services or Federation against Copyright Theft using the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 which makes it a criminal offence for a person or company to receive a programme with the intention of avoiding an applicable charge.
Miss Zarroug says the ruling by Advocate General Julie Kokott at the European Court of Justice that such prosecutions breached EU single market rules will dramatically help pubs if it is made binding later in the year.
In one particular case, Kirwans is acting for a pub landlady facing her fifth prosecution in four years having been cleared in all previous cases on key evidential issues.
Miss Zarroug said: “The ruling by the European Court of Justice earlier this month is a terrific breakthrough for hard-working publicans across the UK and the sooner it is made binding the better.
“Should the court ruling be adopted later this year it will be a huge blow to Sky and Rupert Murdoch who have been locked in an ongoing battle with publicans over illegal broadcasts.
“At the moment because of its exclusivity, Sky can charge publicans exorbitant fees for the rights to show live Premier League games. For many landlords, there will be savings of as much as £12,000 a year.
The Advocate General made her ruling after hearing the case of Portsmouth landlady Karen Murphy who said that her conviction for breaching copyright laws by using a Greek decoder should be overturned.
Miss Murphy said she had been through “five and a half years of hell” but pursued her case to the European Court of Justice because she felt strongly that “we shouldn’t be dictated to about what we pay and where we buy it from”.