FAPL drops three more cases
The FA Premier League (FAPL) has dropped three more cases against licensees showing Premiership football using foreign satellite systems.
Solicitor Paul Dixon of Molesworths Bright Clegg, acting on behalf of all three licensees, called on the FAPL to now drop all outstanding prosecutions against licensees.
18 cases without convictionHe said he has now been involved in 18 cases which have yet to result in a single conviction.
Last month the FAPL revealed to the Morning Advertiser that it would abandon a number of old prosecutions because of difficulties proving licensees knew the systems were illegal.
To convict a licensee under the Copyright, Designs & Patents Act 1988, it must be proved that a licensee "dishonestly receives a programme...with intent to avoid payment".It is now time the FAPL dropped the rest of the outstanding prosecutions against licensees.Solicitor Paul Dixon of Molesworths Bright Clegg
All three licensee used Arabic channel ART to screen games. John Jackson, formerly of the Crown Inn in Heywood near Rochdale, Lancashire was charged with showing Manchester United v Aston Villa at 12.45pm and Manchester City v Birmingham at 5.15pm on 17 December 2005.
Martin Larkin, formerly of the Ratcliffe Arms next to Rochdale FC's stadium was charged with showing Manchester United v Liverpool at 4pm on 22 January 2006.
Ray Fagan of the Queen's Head in Haringey, London was charged with showing Charlton v Chelsea on 17 September 2005 at 3pm during what the FA considered to be a closed period.
Not listedHowever, the date was not listed as an official closed period by UEFA.
Fagan also pays a full Sky commercial subscription at his pub. "My Sky bill is £30,000 a year," he said. "I don't think I did anything wrong. The 17 September was not listed as a closed period on the UEFA website."
Dixon added: "It is now time the FAPL dropped the rest of the outstanding prosecutions against licensees."
Further prosecutionsThe FAPL has promised to ramp up pub visits to 200 a month and promised further prosecutions would follow as a result.
Do you think the FAPL no longer has a case?Is it time they threw in the towel and dropped the remaining prosecutions?Or, have they just been let down by a loophole in the law?
We want your opinions, please click this link to send in your comments - please put "FAPL drops cases" in the subject line.
Your comments
Ken Nason via email, 06/09/2006Isn't this more about the merits of the prosecutors case than the technicallities?
How many times does a decision have to be made in court before it is accepted that there is no case to answer and the FA should move on and concentrate on producing football rather than building a financial empire.
Like the music and film industries they must accept that the 21st century and electronics are here to stay and that traditional attitudes to technology have moved on from the days when all people paid at the turnstiles.
Robert Feal-Martinez via email, 06/09/2006This more than anything highlights the greed of the Premier League and Sky. Mr Fagan was already paying a vast sum of money for Sky. Just think about how much extra in sales he would need to generate to pay for 8 months of football (£3750/month). That is considerably more than most pubs pay in rent. When are the DTI really understand the word Monopoly and I don't mean the board game.
