EU law TV copyright: Pub landlady defeats Murdoch?

Incredible story emerging that could impact every media industry; see http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/feb/03/eu-law-sports-rights

Pub landlady's EU case paves way for Premier League rights revolution

Venues showing live Premier League matches from foreign broadcasters are not breaking EU law, court advised

Read the recommendation in full (pdf)

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• Mark Sweney
• guardian.co.uk, Thursday 3 February 2011 11.41 GMT
• Article history





Manchester United fans watch football in a pub. Photograph: Gary Calton The European Union's highest court was today advised to rule that EU law does not prohibit pubs showing live Premier League matches from foreign broadcasters, potentially sparking a revolution in the way media sports rights are sold across the continent. Juliane Kokott, one of the eight advocate generals of the European court of justice, gave her view on a landmark case brought by Karen Murphy, landlady of the Red, White and Blue pub in Portsmouth. Murphy uses a Greek decoder card to show live Premier League matches at much cheaper rates than BSkyB charges commercial premises in the UK.