The High Court has ruled against the pub landlady who had been screening Premier League matches from the Greek DTH platform Nova. Karen Murphy, landlady of the Red, White and Blue pub in Southsea, Hampshire, had been using the Eutelsat-delivered transmissions rather than pay for the Sky Retail package.
Murphy was convicted under laws designed to prevent criminal copyright theft in a case originally brought by the Premier League. It was widely seen as a test case for pubs that use foreign satellite systems to avoid paying a Sky subscription.
Lord Justice Pumfrey dismissed Murphy’s appeal on the grounds that Sky held the exclusive rights to screen the matches in question in the UK. He said it was “apparent” that Murphy knew this was so.
The appeal has so far only examined UK law and is expected to reconvene in the New Year to assess European law.
