Scottish licensees fined for Sky Sports infringements

Following successful legal action taken by Sky, Sandra McEwan, of Fourways pub Lanarkshire, Victoria Redding of Ellwyn pub in Stirlingshire and Nicholas Whewell of the Thistle Tavern in Fife have each been ordered to pay £10,000 (€11,222) in damages for infringing Sky’s copyright by showing Sky Sports programming illegally in their premises. They must also pay costs and fund the placement of notices advertising the rulings.

Sky sought and was awarded permanent interdicts (injunctions) in the Court of Session, Edinburgh, which prevents the licensees and anyone acting on their behalf from infringing Sky’s copyright by showing Sky programming without the correct commercial license.

• McEwan of Fourways pub has been ordered to pay £10,000 in damages, as well as fund the placing of notices in the Scottish Licensed Trade News magazine, The Publican’s Morning Advertiser magazine and The Falkirk Herald, advertising the ruling.
• Redding of Ellwyn pub has been ordered to pay £10,000 in damages, as well as fund the placing of notices in the Scottish Licensed Trade News magazine, The Publican’s Morning Advertiser magazine and The Falkirk Herald, advertising the ruling.
• Whewell and Radical Road Limited of Thistle Tavern have been ordered to pay £10,000 in damages, as well as fund the placing of notices in the Scottish Licensed Trade News magazine, The Publican’s Morning Advertiser magazine and The Courier, advertising the ruling.

These successful cases come from Sky’s instruction to intellectual property experts from Burness Paull LLP and form a key part of Sky’s commitment to protecting pubs who invest in legitimate Sky Sports subscriptions. SPFL and Premier League matches are broadcast live exclusively on Sky Sports and BT Sport in Scotland. Sky Sports is only available to licensed premises in Scotland via a commercial agreement from Sky.

“These rulings demonstrate the seriousness of this issue and through the orders to fund advertising we hope to highlight the consequences of televising Sky’s content illegally,” noted George Lawson, head of commercial piracy at Sky. “We are committed to visiting thousands of pubs every season to monitor the games they are showing, as well as investigating suppliers to protect Sky customers who are unfairly losing business due to this illegal activity.”