The implications of the CJEU's decision in the FAPL v Karen Murphy case
The implications of the CJEU's decision in the FAPL v Karen Murphy case
The Court of Justice's decision in the case brought on behalf of the Football Association Premier League ("FAPL") against a pub landlady in Portsmouth, England has been widely reported as a victory for the publicans. The practice of importing decoder cards from other EU countries to show coverage of English premiership football matches in English pubs has been found to be legitimate and the FAPL cannot rely on local law or contractual restrictions to prevent it. To allow otherwise would be to impede the free movement of goods and services in the EU single market and would be a restriction on competition. So far so good for the publicans. However, the Court went on to say that the FAPL can assert its copyright in relation to showing the matches in pubs. It remains to be seen, however, whether it can do so successfully in light of the Court's earlier findings that intellectual property rights should not be allowed to impede the single market without justification. We will, therefore, have to wait for the case to return to the English High Court before we know whether pubs can show foreign broadcasts. We may even see a further reference to the Court on the copyright infringement part before we can know for definite. In the meantime, we explore what the decision may mean for a number of interested parties.
Lawyers Adam Rendle, Tony Ghee, Robert Vidal
