Burnley Football Club has been asked to publicise the following letter, which has been distributed by the TRADING STANDARDS SERVICE and POLICE to all licensed premises in Burnley and the surrounding areas.
LIVE PREMIER LEAGUE FOOTBALL MATCHES
COPYRIGHT, DESIGNS AND PATENTS ACT 1988
You may already have received a letter from Media Protection Services Ltd regarding the legal position in relation to the showing of live Premier League football matches broadcast by foreign broadcasters such as Showtime and Digit-Alb. You may also be aware of recent local Police operations.
There are a number of public houses in Burnley and Pendle Boroughs currently showing such live Burnley FC etc matches and Lancashire County Council Trading Standards and the Police are writing to confirm that the showing of Premier League matches using foreign broadcasters' decoder cards and boxes is likely to be illegal under the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988, even where non-UK "official" equipment and cards have been bought. Only the Premier League has the right to decide who broadcasts their games and in the UK only BSkyB (and ESPN) have the exclusive rights to show these matches. Consequently the only way that you can legitimately show such games in your premises is by taking out a BSkyB commercial agreement, or if you use a cable supplier, a commercial cable agreement.
We are aware of mis-information circulating that it is 'legal' to show Premier League matches that are shown on overseas channels providing that an "official" decoder card from these broadcasters is used. This is not the case as the licence issued by the Premier League only allows the matches to be viewed within a specified territory and viewing outside that territory would be in contravention of the licence.
The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 makes it a criminal offence to have "in possession, for commercial purposes, any unauthorised decoder". The decoder would be considered unauthorised, even where the card used is an official one, as the overseas broadcaster is unable to accept a legitimate fee for the use of the cards for viewing in commercial premises in the United Kingdom. The maximum penalty for this offence is an unlimited fine and/or ten years imprisonment.
It is also a criminal offence to "dishonestly receive a programme included in a broadcasting service provided from a place in the United Kingdom with intent to avoid payment of any charge applicable to the reception of the programme". This offence carries a maximum penalty of a £5000 fine. In addition, this is a relevant offence under the Licensing Act 2003 and as such a conviction under this section could result in a Personal Licence being suspended or forfeited. In addition any equipment used in the unauthorised broadcast of these matches is liable to forfeiture.
Although Lancashire County Council Trading Standards Service is not currently considering any enforcement action, The Police have and will continue to take action and private prosecutions by Media Protection Services Ltd are possible and may be considered in some circumstances.
Consequently if your premises are currently showing football matches using the above methods, you are now advised of the implications of this activity and that Media Protection Services Ltd are active in monitoring these activities.
For further advice contact:
Mark Dawson, Lancashire Trading Standards Service - Tel 01772 532752
Lancashire Police - Penine Division Licensing Department
Media Protection Services Ltd - Tel 01462 676664
Burnley Borough Council, Licensing Department - Tel 01282 425011
Pendle Borough Council, Licensing Department - Tel 01282 661987
