Fife pub ordered to pay £10,000 for illegal football screening

The Dixon Arms in Glenrothes was one of five pubs from across Scotland found guilty of infringing television broadcast company Sky’s copyright by showing Sky Sports programming illegally in their premises.

The company sought and was awarded permanent interdicts in the Court of Session, Edinburgh, which prevents the licensees and anyone acting on their behalf from infringing copyright by showing programming without the correct commercial license. The Glenrothes pub, along with others in Glasgow, Ayr and Falkirk have been ordered to pay £10,000, as well as fund the placement of notices in local and trade publications advertising the ruling.

George Lawson, head of commercial piracy at Sky, said: “Illegal broadcasting of sporting events is damaging to the pub industry which is why we’re committed to protecting Sky customers who are unfairly losing business due to this illegal activity.

“There have already been numerous cases this football season of landlords who face hefty financial consequences for this type of fraudulent activity.

“These latest orders demonstrate how seriously the courts take piracy through the large penalty applied, but also through the order to fund advertising, which we hope will help to highlight the consequences of televising Sky’s content illegally.”

The latest fines are a result of a crackdown by the broadcaster who has vowed to continue visiting hundreds of pubs and bars each week in a bid to protect its screening rights.