Music piracy suits and sports claims dominate High Court cases
An analysis of cases before the High Court in the past year reveals a preponderance of cases involving music piracy and the illegal streaming of top-flight football such as Premier League matches. Football and music bodies were the top three claimants, bringing almost 300 cases against pirates, according to an article in The Guardian.
More than 100 cases were brought by the music licensing and performance rights body PPL, formerly known as Phonographic Performance Ltd, in the year to the end of March 2017. The Football Association brought 39 cases and the Performing Right Society 27.
In two recent cases, Sky won damages against an individual who illegally streamed the Anthony Joshua’s world title fights against Wladimir Klitschko on Facebook, which attracted 600,000 viewers, and in another case against a Bristol man who illegally streamed Sky Sports on a pirate blog.
RPC found that bodies representing the music industry accounted for the majority of High Court cases last year. PPL, which licenses recorded music on behalf of performers and the major record labels to places such as pubs, clubs and stores, was the single biggest claimant, bringing 106 cases.
RPC said the music industry remained extremely vigilant against nightclubs, pubs and restaurants that fail to pay for licences to play music, which accounted for just under a quarter of cases brought by the PPL.
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