ONE TO WATCH


The One to Watch column provides an update on a legal case or trend that businesses operating online should be following. In this issue of TBO, we assess football goals and copyright.


PREMIER LEAGUE TO SHOOT DOWN ‘UNOFFICIAL’ VIDEOS


football action in England and Wales, the league’s offi cials issued a message to the fans.


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But far from instilling excitement into the hearts and minds of the public, the announcement had a more authoritative and threatening tone to it.


As TBO reported, PL chiefs announced that they would be clamping down on “unoffi cial” videos of goals posted and shared online.


Among the platforms singled out was Vine, a Twitter- owned video-sharing website that lets users upload and watch looping clips capped at six seconds.


Describing the sharing of goals as a “breach of


copyright”, Dan Johnson, director of


communications at the PL, said it was developing technologies such as gif crawlers and Vine crawlers and working with Twitter to curtail the activity.


During the World Cup in Brazil and the previous football season, thousands of clips were uploaded within seconds of goals being scored aſt er viewers were able to rewind live TV to capture the footage. As the new season unfolds, it will be interesting to see how eff ectively, if it all, the PL can keep a handle on the practice.


T e most obvious parties aff ected by unoffi cial clips are the broadcasters that have forked out


42 Trademarks & Brands Online


n the eve of the new Premier League (PL) season, as millions around the world waited for the return of top-fl ight


billions of pounds for the exclusive rights to games, Adam Rendle, senior associate at Taylor Wessing LLP in London, tells TBO.


Sky Sports and BT Sport paid a record £3 billion ($5 billion) as licensees to show three seasons’ worth of


live football. T e Sun and T e Times


newspapers bought the online rights for the goals (which are available on subscription), minutes aſt er they are scored.


“T e PL (and its licensees) will be keen to preserve that value,” notes Rendle. “However, while they are so valuable a commodity, they are also short and easy to share.”


Emphasising that point, a Vine user known only as Nick says he is able to put Vines on social media before TV companies have even fi nished showing the replays.


“T ere’s enough out there, if you just search on Twitter. If Gareth Bale scores and you search within seconds of the goals going in there’ll be four or fi ve tweets up. Within another minute there will be ten maybe, so if I’m not doing it someone else is,” he told the BBC.


But, as Rendle says, there is a further threat to the broadcasters and the PL: the uploading of footage live from the stadium.


Rendle cites the 2011 Karen Murphy/FAPL decision from the English High Court.


Volume 3, Issue 3


T e dispute centred on a UK pub landlady (Murphy) who had been using a foreign decoder to circumvent more expensive subscription fees.


In part of the ruling it was deemed that live matches themselves were not protected by copyright.


But, Rendle adds, there are other copyrighted works that could be captured in a video in a way “which may constitute infringement”.


Rendle points to musical works such as the PL anthem and broadcasters’ offi cial logos.


“T e existence of infringement is even less clear- cut in those cases than in those involving recording and sharing of TV footage,” Rendle says.


However, there have been examples of clubs clamping down on the problem, he notes.


Rendle adds: “Stewards, for example, may be tasked with preventing unauthorised fi lming, and we have already seen Manchester United place a ban on certain technologies being brought into the club’s stadium.”


While it will be interesting to see whether the PL can keep a lid on the popularity of sharing goals on social media and on users’ instant ability to share content, there could be scope for future disputes to arise.


It appears the guidelines surrounding copyright and football are perhaps not as clear-cut as the PL expects. 


www.trademarksandbrandsonline.com


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