AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou said the Federal Court’s ruling that Optus has breached copyright in broadcasting near-to-live AFL and NRL matches is a victory for all Australian televised sport.
The full bench of the Federal Court granted the appeal instigated by the AFL, NRL and Telstra last week, against a decision a couple of months ago that had allowed Optus to broadcast near-to-live matches on its mobile ‘Now’ TV service.
The original verdict allowed Optus users to watch AFL and NRL games through video streams on mobile devices two minutes behind the live TV broadcast, by ruling that it was the user and not Optus who was responsible for the mobile phone streaming.
The AFL and NRL, backed by Telstra, appealed the decision and the fact that Telstra paid over $150 million for the right to stream AFL matches on the internet while Optus did not pay a fee.
The Court last week changed their original decision and placed Optus, as well as the user, responsible for the streaming which breached the copyright law. The case however may not be over and far from resolved, as Optus contemplates an appeal to the High Court of Australia.
