Pub takes on Sky in battle over football
A Portsmouth landlady is set to take on Sky in the European Court of Justice tomorrow over her showing Pompey games in her pub.
It brings the long-running saga between Karen Murphy, landlady of the Red, White and Blue pub in Fawcett Road, Southsea, and the media giant one step closer to the finish line.
Ms Murphy says she was advised in 2004 by Gales, her brewery at the time, to buy a satellite system from Nova, in Greece.
But the Premier League says she breached copyright law, as it has an exclusive deal with BSkyB to broadcast all premier league fixtures in the UK.
That deal means pub managers can pay more than 1,000 a month to Sky, rather than the 800 being charged by Nova.
The court battle began when Ms Murphy was twice taken to court by Media Protection Services, which protects the rights of broadcasters, for breaching Sky's copyright in this country.
The first time, she successfully argued that she had been unaware that she was breaching copyright law by using Nova.
But the second time she was convicted. She appealed to the High Court over the conviction but judges at the High Court in London said the law was such a grey area that even they couldn't decide.
They passed it to the European Court of Justice for a decision, and tomorrow Ms Murphy and MPS will have 20 minutes each to put their case across.
The stakes are incredibly high. If Karen succeeds, she'll create a 'Murphy's law' that will cause cheers in pubs across the country.
But if she fails, she says the costs of the case will see the Red White and Blue close its doors.
It will take around four weeks before the Judge Advocate will give his recommendations on the case to the British Court.
Ms Murphy argues that the law is so vague that she could not have knowingly broken it.
Until the European judges make up their mind, similar cases up and down the country are on hold.
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Weather for Portsmouth
Saturday 26 May 2012
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