Action for damages filed by the Football Association Premier League Ltd of England and Melita plc against Telestarr Ltd was dismissed by a court which ruled that no right of copyright was vested in live broadcasts of football league games.

The Football Association Premier League (FAPL) and Melita had requested the court to rule that the sale of decoder cards by Telestarr for the viewing of Premier League games footage was in violation of copyright.

They also claimed that this sale was in violation of the exclusivity rights granted to Melita by FAPL. Both companies requested the court to condemn Telestarr to pay damages.

But in her judgement, Madam Justice Abigail Lofaro said that last year the European Court of Human Rights had ruled that the FAPL could not hold copyright in live football matches since the matches could not be classified as creative works.

To be so classified, the subject matter concerned would have to be original in the sense that it was the author's own intellectual creation.

The European Court ruled that sporting events could not be regarded as intellectual creations. Football matches, which were subject to the rules of the game, left no room for creative freedom.

Madam Justice Lofaro, therefore, ruled that FAPL did not hold copyright in the football matches.

The court added that it resulted that FAPL had granted exclusive rights to Melita to broadcast the games. The court had therefore to see whether Telestarr had violated this exclusivity right.

But the European Court had consistently ruled that there could be restrictions on the freedom to provide services if such restrictions were required to protect intellectual property rights, such as copyright.

Once FAPL did not hold copyright in the games, then the exclusivity granted to Melita could not benefit from justified restrictions which were intended to protect intellectual property rights. Plaintiff companies were not justified in prohibiting Telestarr from selling decoder cards.

Lawyer Josette Grech appeared for Telestarr.