Kerry pub using 'dodgy' box to show matches must pay €20k damages to Sky

The pub had no contract with Sky, and no licence to broadcast the matches, barrister for Sky Micheál Munnelly said.

Sky Ltd, Sky UK Ltd And Sky Subscribers Services Ltd sued Ballinagare Tavern Limited and Pat Keane in a case that came before Judge Sinéad Behan at the Circuit Civil Court in Tralee on Tuesday.

"The defendants are occupiers and licensees of the pub The Railway Bar, Lixnaw, Co  Kerry, and the nominee is Pat Keane,’ Mr Munnelly said. They were not present in court.

"When my witnesses called to the premises on various dates, they viewed Premier League soccer matches being shown in the public house. No commercial contracts between the pub and Sky were in place," he said.

The company wrote telling them to cease and desist and they failed to do so.

Some €49,632 in fees were due to Sky, allowable under the Copyright Act, the barrister said.

Sky witness Michael Murphy visited the Railway Pub on an afternoon in October 2019 and told how the Man United v Liverpool match was being shown. 

He described the premises in Lixnaw as "small and modest", with one television. Patrons were in the bar — though he could not say how many — and one staff member was behind the bar. Colleagues had also conducted visits and there were eight separate visit reports.

Sky’s policing operations manager Catherine O’Sullivan told the court commercial agreements were available for pubs, clubs, hotels, offices and such. 

The fees charged were based on a band beginning from A to F, depending on the turnover of the pub.

Ms O'Sullivan outlined the fees owed by the Lixnaw pub, which owed €17,316 for the 2022/2023 period alone.

Fees for pubs and clubs in the Republic of Ireland were calculated on the premises supplying their licence. When they did not supply the licence, the fees were calculated at the highest level. The Lixnaw premises was not a large premises, Ms O’Sullivan told Judge Sinéad Behan.

The pub in Lixnaw had never entered into an agreement, and had not supplied a licence. Judge Behan then asked if what they were using was what was commonly known as a 'dodgy box’.

Mr Munnelly said the judge had used the colloquial name for "a protection defeating device", whose primary purpose was to bypass or avoid copyright protection.

The Sky policing manager said using such devices gave unfair advantage to those pubs paying Sky fees.

‘My job is to protect customers paying the appropriate fee,’ she said.

Mr Munnelly told the court that in addition to fees of €49,000, he was seeking an order prohibiting future use of the device to infringe Sky copyright.

Judge Sinéad Behan found a breach of copyright had taken place and she was awarding damages.

Noting the Railway Bar Lixnaw was a small rural premises with one television and one staff member and a small number of customers, the judge said she was awarding damages of €20,000.

Judge Behan also granted an order "restraining the defendants from infringing the copyright of Sky services at their bar in Lixnaw".