Earlier this month a judgement by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) decreed that websites which retransmit live TV over the Internet without permission from broadcasters are in breach of copyright.
The landmark ruling has wide-ranging implications for sports broadcasting, for example, and dozens of sites showing live TV, such as the London-based TVCatchup.com will be breaking the law if they continue to broadcast some programmes.
The case had been brought by ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 against TVCatchup.com, which streams free-to-air shows from the BBC, ITV and Channel 4.
The ECJ decided that the website, which carries pre-roll advertising before shows, was in breach of a 2001 law that describes the original broadcasters as “authors” of the programming, giving them the exclusive right to approve or restrict its use.
In its judgement, the ECJ said that EU law seeks to establish a high level of protection for authors of works, allowing them to obtain an appropriate reward for the use of those works, and added that television broadcasters may prohibit the retransmission of their programmes by another company via the internet.
The judgement went on to say that that retransmission constitutes, under certain conditions, a ‘communication to the public’ of works, which must be authorised by their authors.
However, TVCatchup.com remains defiant in the face of the ruling and insists that it would impact “barely 30 per cent” of its 12 million registered users and also that licences granted to the complainants by Ofcom also apply to subsidiary channels such as its own service.
The ruling is significant though, as it is one of several by the ECJ that appears to be laying the foundations for a new European legal order in copyright and other forms of intellectual property.