A south coast pub landlady has gone 1-0 up in her longrunning battle against the multibillion-pound English Premier League, after the EU's highest court was advised to rule in her favour.
The case, which began with Karen Murphy defending her right to show English Premier League matches beamed in from Greece to a handful of drinkers at the Red, White and Blue pub in Portsmouth, could have far-reaching ramifications for sport, broadcasting and consumers.
In a decision that could change the way sports rights are sold across the continent, the European court of justice was advised that forbidding pubs from buying in cheap football coverage from overseas operators was incompatible with European law.
If the advice is followed, it will affect everyone from armchair football fans to pub landlords and well remunerated players and potentially undermine a model that has fuelled the Premier League boom years.
Murphy was taken to court by a company representing the league over her decision to import a Greek decoder to show the games rather than paying Sky, which holds the rights in the UK. She has fought the case all the way to the highest European court.
As well as the criminal case against Murphy, civil cases against two importers of the decoder cards are being considered in parallel.
Juliane Kokott, one of the eight advocate generals of the European court of justice, advised that selling on a territory-by-territory basis represented a "serious impairment of freedom to provide services", adding that the "economic exploitation of the [TV] rights is not is not undermined by the use of foreign decoder cards as the corresponding charges have been paid for those cards".
Because Murphy had paid the legitimate rights holder in Greece, she was entitled to receive its satellite broadcasts. "Whilst those charges are not as high as the charges imposed in the UK there is ... no specific right to charge different prices for a work in each member state," Kokott said. Selling on a basis of territorial exclusivity was "tantamount to profiting from the elimination of the internal market".
In the short term, the decision could allow pubs to show matches on a Saturday at 3pm, which the football authorities have long argued wouldresult in lower league attendances. It could also allow consumers to buy cheaper subscriptions from continental providers, assuming they had the correct kit, in preference to Sky.
In the longer term, that would probably force the Premier League to sell its rights on a pan-European basis to a single media group – a scenario that could impact on its revenues and throw up its own European competition issues.
While Kokott's opinion is not binding, the Luxembourg court follows the advice of advocate generals in most cases. The court is expected to deliver its verdict later this year, which will then be handed down to the high court in London.
Given any appeals, it is likely the legal process will continue beyond the Premier League's next rights auction. The current three-year deal runs until next season and brought in £3.5bn, of which £1.4bn was paid by overseas broadcasters.
The Premier League will fight its corner, backed by other rights holders including sporting bodies such as Uefa and the Hollywood studios. A spokesman said it did not believe the advice of the advocate general was compatible with EU case law and accused it of trying to force a pan-European licensing model through the courts rather than going through "the proper consultative and legislative processes to change the law".
Murphy's solicitor, Paul Dixon, said the development was "a huge boost to our case" but he remained cautious. "This is only an opinion and the judges do not have to follow it."
When the case reached Europe last year, Murphy said she planned to fight to the end: "I think it's unjust. I think it's a greedy private company trying to dictate to the small people what they can and cannot do, purely for profit. The law needs changing. If I don't fight, who is going to fight?"
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/feb/03/pub-landlady-premier-league-television-rights
