As of yesterday (15 June) copyright protection now prevents the unauthorised showing of a Premier League match itself in a pub, irrespective of whether there are logos, graphics or music included in the broadcast.
The effect of this is simple: if pubs show unauthorised foreign broadcasts of Premier League football they breach copyright. It doesn’t matter if the logos are blocked, or the music isn’t played - there is now legal protection which prevents the unauthorised broadcast of the match itself.
In the UK, the only channels which are authorised to broadcast live Premier League football in commercial premises are Sky Sports and BT Sport.
Over the last season the Premier League has taken legal action against several suppliers of unauthorised systems – two received custodial sentences – and scores of pubs have been ordered by the High Court to pay costs for breaching copyright.
'Clear message'
A Premier League spokesman said: "We are regularly contacted by publicans who broadcast our matches the right way – on Sky or BT – and are being undercut by competitors that make unauthorised foreign broadcasts.
"Feedback we have had from the trade in recent years is that we should target suppliers of unauthorised systems and we have done so. We have also been told by some that the law isn’t clear enough – following this change to Copyright Law there is no excuse on that front.
"Our message to industry is clear: if you are interested in broadcasting Premier League football in your premises then please don’t take the risk of listening to suppliers that offer you access to unauthorised foreign channels, or to logo blocking systems, and instead call Sky and BT to find out about their latest offers."
The specific change to copyright law is an amendment to Section 72 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act.