The Supreme Court decides that the owners of the bars that offer parties without a license are not committing a crime against intellectual property, but against the market and consumers
The broadcasting in commercial establishments of illegally copied football matches is no longer punishable by prison terms of more than two years. The Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that illegally broadcasting football matches could constitute a minor offense involving the market and consumers, but would not infringe intellectual property, which carries penalties of up to four years in prison under the Criminal Code. the prison. The Criminal Chamber of the Supreme has dismissed the prosecution’s appeal that the owners of bars, restaurants and other entertainment venues that offer football with pirate decoders are committing a crime against intellectual property.
Following the complaint filed by LaLiga against a businessman from Valencia with three branches who broadcast football without authorization, a court in this city has already ruled out committing an intellectual property offense in this case, making it a crime against the market and consumers. . punished with a maximum of two years imprisonment. The Supreme Court also believes that since it is a minor crime against the market, its authors should only be punished with economic fines and not go to jail unless they have a criminal record.
The judgment of the Court of Valencia requested the Supreme Court, since there were so many conflicting resolutions, to establish the doctrine, and it was the plenary session of the criminal chamber that settled the discussion between a serious and a minor crime after the appeal set by the public prosecutor. The previous court ruling ruled that football broadcasts are not “literary, artistic or scientific works or services” protected by intellectual property. However, the prosecution urged the Supreme Court that rebroadcasting a football match “could result in such a product being regarded as an artistic production”.
Recently, the National Police inspected up to 166 bars in thirteen cities in Spain for illegal distribution of the television signal of competitive matches, and those responsible were charged with alleged responsibility for a crime against intellectual property and against the market and consumers, whose economic damage to the owners of the audiovisual content amounts to more than one million euros, according to LaLiga. The operation was performed in Seville, Malaga, Cordoba, Zaragoza, Valladolid, Murcia, Palma de Mallorca, Gijón, Madrid, Vigo, Las Palmas, Bilbao and Barcelona
The owners of the investigated catering establishments are accused of being responsible for fraudulently distributing audiovisual content, as they illegally accessed protected content broadcast via encrypted channels via decoders or microcontrollers. “This gave them a fraudulent economic advantage, as they offered the opportunity to watch sports events, broadcast only through encrypted channels that gave them an extra service that other establishments did not offer. The economic damage caused to the owners of the illegally distributed multimedia content is estimated at €1,066,386,” reports LaLiga. The establishments reported to police headquarters have been repeatedly identified as illegal polluters over the past three seasons.
Source: La Verdad
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