broadcast monopoly/copyright going to ECJ

[azrael]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11452434

Five years ago, Karen Murphy would try to draw punters to her Portsmouth pub, The Red, White and Blue, by showing Premier League football matches on the pub TV.
However, she found the monthly subscription to Sky Sports increasingly unaffordable - pubs can pay more than £1,000 a month.
Instead, she found a cheaper means of screening English football - a subscription to a Greek satellite broadcaster, NOVA.
However, using these foreign subscription cards puts publicans like Ms Murphy in breach of UK copyright law, because the means by which they screen football is not via the authorised broadcaster - Sky Sports.

Interesting article on copyright and the broadcast monopoly

[Duke]

Hmm, this could be a very interesting case; in particular, it could end up covering region-locking on DVDs, and even online distribution stuff (e.g. iTunes, Spotify) and could force European-wide licensing agreements (which have the potential to be both terrible and fantastic for consumers).

Interestingly, looking at the High Court challenge, this woman was represented by two QCs (admittedly, the Premier League's enforcement team had 3...) so this seems to be quite a big and well-funded case.

[AndrewTindall]

yeah, this is going to be interesting.

I can see the benefits of european-wide licensing if it were done properly. but with things as they are, I know it'd end up terrible for the general public and consumers.