Pub landlord accuses Premier League and Sky of 'illegal' plot to stop matches being aired commercially
Anthony Luxton, who runs The Rhyddings pub in Swansea, claims European competition rules are being flouted
A pub landlord has accused the Premier League and Sky of an “illegal” plot to stop matches being aired commercially in the UK using foreign decoder boxes.
Anthony Luxton, of The Rhyddings pub in Swansea , says European competition rules are being flouted by an “unlawful agreement” between the two giants.
He is now trying to prove his point before two of the country’s most senior judges at the Court of Appeal in London.
The FA Premier League Ltd vehemently denies it has any such “mutual understanding” with Sky and is fighting the case tooth and nail.
Swansea landlord who showed Premier League games at the Rhyddings pub wins right to appeal £65,000 court judgement
Premier League lawyers say Mr Luxton breached its copyright by using a “domestic” Scandinavian decoder box to screen matches in his pub.
But Martin Howe QC, representing the publican, said his inability to get hold of a “commercial” box was due to “anti-competitive” conduct by the Premier League and Sky.
Their bid to “preserve territorial exclusivity” for EU broadcasters had led to “starvation” of the cross-border market for commercial decoder boxes, he claimed.
Mr Luxton’s case dates back to 2011 when he bought a foreign satellite TV system with what he believed to be a commercial decoder card, said Mr Howe.
But, “unbeknown to Mr Luxton”, his supplier “found itself unable to obtain” a commercial package and instead installed a “domestic” card.
The Premier League swooped and in 2014 a judge found Mr Luxton in breach of copyright and ordered him to pay £65,000 in legal costs.
He is now challenging that decision before Lords Justice Tomlinson and Floyd at the Court of Appeal.
Mr Howe told the court the Premier League’s case against Mr Luxton was “at least in part an illicit attempt to preclude the use of foreign decoder cards to receive broadcasts from a foreign broadcaster within the EU”.
He added: “It is alleged that the Premier League is acting pursuant to an unlawful agreement or mutual understanding between itself and Sky to preserve territorial exclusivity for EU broadcasters”.
Had it not been for the success of the Premier League’s “unlawful efforts” to restrict supplies of foreign commercial decoder cards, Mr Luxton “would not have found himself in breach of copyright”, the QC claimed.
However, Helen Davies QC, for the Premier League, denied it had any anti-competitive agreement with Sky and insisted that the publican’s arguments had “no realistic prospect of success”.
The simple fact was that Mr Luxton had used a “domestic use only” card for the “commercial purpose” of screening matches to his customers, she told the court.
The hearing continues and the court is expected to reserve its decision on Mr Luxton’s appeal until a later date.
Source: http://www.walesonline.co.uk/n…s-premier-league-12009360
