The Premier League has claimed victory against the importers of foreign satellite TV decoders in a court battle. Some British pubs purchase satellite systems from other parts of the European Union, so they can show Premier League football at a much cheaper cost than Sky and ESPN. The High Court now says that the league can take action against the pubs on grounds of breach of copyright. However, the satellite TV firms claim that they are still free to continue offering their services.

The case was heard alongside the legal action of pub landlady Karen Murphy, who had bought a Greek satellite TV service to use in her pub in Southsea. In a landmark ruling last October the European Court of Justice said that national laws prohibiting the import, sale or use of foreign decoder cards were “contrary to the freedom to provide services and cannot be justified either in light of the objective of protecting intellectual property rights or by the objective of encouraging the public to attend football stadiums”.

Premier Leauge spokesman Nick Noble said “The law gives us the right to prevent the unauthorised use of our copyrights in pubs and clubs when they are communicated to the public without our authority. We will now resume actions against publicans who are using European Economic Area foreign satellite systems to show Premier League football on their premises unlawfully and without our authority.”