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On 20 September 2018, the High Court gave a judgement and granted an injunction to block servers that were being used to stream broadcasts of boxing matches, in infringement of copyright.
The Claimant, Matchroom Boxing Limited and others, applied to the High Court for injunctive relief to prevent live streams of its professional boxing matches.
One of the most recent examples of streaming, which Matchroom presented in evidence, were the large number of infringing streams that took place on Anthony Joshua’s most recent fight this year. Matchroom and Sky had exclusive licences to broadcast this footage but were deprived of substantial revenue due to the streaming.
During the judgement, Mr Justice Arnold referred to other injunctions he had previously granted on other sporting events, including Football Association Premier League Ltd v British Telecommunications plc [2017].
While the circumstances in the cases referred to were very similar to Matchroom’s case, Arnold J said that the order sought by Matchroom differed in the following 2 ways:
Regardless of these differences, Arnold J granted the order as it was deemed proportionate in all the circumstances, as it did not impair the rights of the defendants ISPs to carry on business. As the legitimate aim was to prevent the infringement of Matchroom and Sky’s rights on a large scale, it was deemed proportionate to limit the extent that internet users can impart and receive information.
You can read the full judgement here.
If you would like to speak to a member of our Intellectual Property team, please call 0161 941 4000 or email lawyers@myerson.co.uk.