More football in pubs: European Union – Court of Justice (Grand Chamber) <i>Football Association Premier League Ltd and Others v QC Leisure and Others</i> (C-403/08) and <i>Karen Murphy v Media Protection Services Ltd</i> (C-429/08)

Abstract

The judgment of the European Court of Justice in the so-called Premier League cases (Joined Cases C-403/08 and C-429/08), which continues to generate intense debate, has serious implications for copyright, conditional access protection, the fundamental freedom to provide services and the application of competition law. While the judgment has often been looked at from the angle of fundamental freedoms and competition law, this contribution focuses on the copyright aspects of the case. It reviews the Court’s assessment of the IPR subject-matter at stake as well as the scope of the reproduction right, the concept of communication to the public under Article 3 Directive 2001/29/EC and the potential meaning of ‘appropriate remuneration’. As the Court of Justice continues to produce copyright decisions at an unrelenting pace, it is important to understand the approach that is emerging. The goal of this article is to make a modest contribution to that understanding.