The first ever injunction prohibiting a licensee from screening Sky has been issued in England. Pub landlady Nancy Maxwell is accused of showing Sky Sports with the correct subscription.
Maxwell is now the subject of an injunction prohibiting her from showing Sky at the Railway Tavern, Edmonton Green, London or any other premises that she is connected to. That’s unless she enters into the correct commercial contracts with Sky.
Sky says that despite numerous warnings, Nancy Maxwell, as Premises Licence Holder of the Railway Tavern, continued to show Sky Sports broadcasts without a valid subscription.
Sky Sports is only available to licensed premises in the UK through a commercial viewing agreement from Sky Business. Anyone who breaches this can face legal action. In this instance, Sky made an application for an Injunction to stop breaches of their copyright and intellectual property rights.
The Pint Glass and Sky Sports
A pint glass symbol is added to the bottom of the pub feed of the Sky Sports. This tells inspectors that the establishment has paid for a commercial subscription. The version of Sky Sports available through a domestic subscription is cheaper, and does not include the pint glass symbol.
The pint glass is one of a number of symbols added to feeds of Sky Sports, depending on how and where the channel is being accessed. Online streams have their own symbols, to help crack down on piracy.
If the Injunction is breached, Maxwell could be found to be in contempt of court and face a potential custodial sentence. The Injunction also covers anyone assisting Maxwell in showing Sky programming.
The Injunction will remain in place until a full hearing is heard in court later in 2022.
Sara Stewart, Commercial Compliance Lead at Sky Business commented:
“It’s important to us that businesses are aware of the consequences of showing Sky Sports illegally – it is a serious issue that is damaging to the pub industry, and those licensees who choose to televise content in this way should be aware that they are at high risk of being caught and face substantial penalties. We take breaches of Sky’s copyright very seriously and remain committed to protecting our legitimate Sky customers who are unfairly losing business due to this illegal activity.”
[Image: Sky Sports Business]