Protection for law-abiding pubs in Ireland has been upheld following successful legal action taken by Sky.
One Dublin publican was found to be breaching copyright by showing Sky Sports to customers without a commercial agreement from Sky.
In a separate case, a Cork publican admitted to breaching Sky’s copyright by showing unauthorised Sky Sports programming on the premises. The publican has signed undertakings prohibiting him from showing Sky programming on the premises without the correct commercial viewing agreement from Sky Business.
Sky brought these civil proceedings against the licensees for infringing its copyright by showing Sky Sports to customers without having valid commercial viewing agreements in place. Sky Sports is only available to licensed premises in Ireland via a commercial viewing agreement from Sky Business or Virgin Media. Licensees that show Sky broadcasts without a commercial viewing agreement risk similar action or even a criminal prosecution.
George Lawson, head of commercial piracy at Sky, said, “These latest orders demonstrate how seriously the courts take piracy. If you choose to televise content illegally then you run the very real risk of being caught and having legal action taken against you. The risks are not worth running”.
These successful cases come form a key part of Sky’s commitment to protecting pubs who invest in legitimate Sky Sports subscriptions. Sky is committed to visiting every licensed premises reported by other publicans and/or organisations for illegally showing Sky and has made arrangements to visit hundreds of pubs each week in towns and cities across Ireland this year.
