Havent read this ruling but

the EU ruling has so far left open a half-decent copyright argument for Sky, with digital watermarks/logos on the live feed being capable of being copyrighted and certainly the English commentary and sounds etc created by Sky being capable of copyright. Broadcasting those logos etc without a license is the offence they'll be trying to use. Turning it all off at half time won't work if they can embed logos into the match feed itself, and not broadcasting sound only really works if third party audio commentary synchs in ok.

So we'll see more of this: "Premier League content has been developed to include more logos and symbols that uphold its ownership of the material, meaning landlords cannot flout the rules by turning the television on and off at key times."

As to how effective this will be for Sky remains to be seen as the more complex side of it (ie, just how much of their stuff they can copyright and just what restrictions they can place on it legally and technically) will now be the more interesting angle and that remains to be decided I think? EU have just said that cross-border restrictions are bad, but that you still have certain copyright protection. English courts now need to decide just how far that protection goes.

Posted By: CWC, Feb 24, 13:32:46