The Spanish multimedia group Mediapro has announced a “historic sentence” in the fight against audiovisual piracy in the country.

It saw the Criminal Court No 4 in Malaga impose fines and compensation of almost €500,000 on members of a network dedicated to the sale of decoders with pirated content, including football.

A sentence of six months imprisonment and €1,800 fine was placed on the administrators of a company that illegally distributed content, as well as a €40,000 fine for a legal person.

In addition, Mediapro and LaLiga were each awarded €200,000 in compensation, and EGEDA €2,000. They will each also receive €10,000 each for procedural costs.

The company in question has also agreed to regularise the situation and become a client of the legitimate licences of the content.

Mediapro notes that this is one of the largest such actions against audiovisual piracy and the first sentence obtained by Mediapro and LaLiga that affects such a large regional operator.

It had around 5,000 customers paying approximately €47 a month each and provided services in Benalmadena, Estepona, Fuengirola, Guadacorte, Guadiaro, Marbella, Mijas, Malaga and Torremolinos.