A tiny Dundee pub which is home to a number of troll statues has claimed a partial victory in a “David and Goliath” copyright battle with broadcasters Sky.
Christopher Airlie, owner of the Troll Inn, was sued by the media giant over allegations his establishment was showing football matches without a subscription.
Sky claimed that Mr Airlie was in breach of copyright by displaying Sky Sports logos during games on screens in the pub, for which they had not paid a subscription.
The company was seeking damages of £10,000.
In a spirited defence, Mr Airlie explained a “loophole” which used customers’ own Sky Go apps to broadcast the matches through monitors they had brought to the pubs themselves.
He said the games were only watched by the app owners and a few other regulars and said that if any strangers came into the pub they would move the monitors so they could not see them.
In his findings, Court of Session judge Lord Sandison said it had been established Sky’s copyright had been infringed.
But he said the broadcaster had failed to show what losses it made and refused to award damages.
Not for Dundee’s ‘well-heeled bourgeoise’
In his written ruling, Lord Sandison sets the scene of what he describes as a “modern day David and Goliath” conflict with a colourful description of the Arklay Street pub.
“It is sandwiched between the Arklay Street Mini Mart and an establishment bearing, in an equally self-explanatory manner, the name of ‘Mr Chippy,'” he wrote.
“Its principal decorative theme – as the name implies – consists of the display of a large collection of troll memorabilia, including statues, statuettes and photographs.
“Its location, facilities and ambience are not such as to attract the Bright Young Things of the city, nor yet its well-heeled bourgeoisie.
“Rather, it caters for a highly local and dedicated and mature clientele which, for one reason or another, tends to prefer a quiet drink or two in the company of the trolls to whatever other options might be available to it in the City of Discovery.”
A new arrangement
During the two-day hearing, the Court of Session was told private investigators were used to visit the pub and check what games were being shown.
Between March and September last year, four Scottish and English Premier League games were broadcast at the pub.
Mr Airlie previously had annual and monthly licences to show Sky games – at a cost of up to £1,400 a month – but his subscription ended in late 2022.
The proprietor, who has owned the pub since 2001, said on more than one occasion he had made an arrangement with two customers – David McLellan and Craig Dolan – to bring a device into the pub so they could watch matches using Mr McLellan’s Sky Go subscription.
“That arrangement had been going on for years,” Lord Sandison said.
“It had started off with the use of a small tablet, but escalated in about February or March 2023 to involve the use of computer monitors.
“It then happened all the time.”
When private eyes checked out the pub in September, games were being shown on a 36-inch screen.
Mr Airlie insisted had a stranger appeared in the bar and was standing where he could see the monitors, “they would have been reoriented so that he could not see what they were displaying.”
He added he had spoken to a Sky representative who told him it was fine to watch games using Sky Go and “nothing had been said about what size of device could be used.”
Perpetual interdict granted
Lord Sandison wrote that customers taking in their own monitors to watch games “may seem improbable at first blush”.
He added: “The defender (Mr Airlie) gave detailed evidence about the identity of customers involved and the location of the home of one of them, from which the monitor was said to have been carried to the bar, and I see no reason not to accept his evidence on those matters.”
He said the use of the customer’s own devices was “seen as critical to the exploitation of the loophole which the defender believed he had identified.”
However, he said that the infringement of Sky copyright had been “clearly established”.
He granted a perpetual interdict against a repeat of infringement, effectively meaning no more Sky Go screenings in the bar.
The judge declined to order Mr Airlie to pay damages, stating there was no evidence Sky had suffered loss as a result of the pub’s actions.
Mr Airlie could not be reached for comment.
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