Optus Loses Legal Dispute Over AFL & NRL Mobile Rights

A decision allowing mobile communications company Optus to broadcast almost-live broadcasts of National Rugby League (NRL) and Australian Fooball League (AFL) matches on its mobile platform has been overturned.

Today the Federal Court ruled the Telco’s showing of free-to-air coverage on its TV Now service breached copyright, viagra overturning a previous judgement in February.

The Australian Football League, the most popular spectator sport in the country, and the NRL sought to protect broadcasting rights valued at more than $2 billion. The main point of dispute was who creates the electronic files that are sent to the customer for viewing. The AFL, NRL and Telstra Corp., Australia’s biggest phone company, said Optus’s service infringed their copyrights because it makes the recordings, stores them on its servers, and passes them on to customers.

In a statement it said: “This judgement is a great result for everyone who cares about the financial health of Australian sport. It ensures that sports bodies, and Australian content owners more generally, are able to receive a fair return from their property.

“Protecting intellectual property allows rights holders to invest in improving the quality of their content.

“The investments Telstra has made under its agreement with the AFL have produced a great product for AFL fans.

“The Telstra AFL live app has everything an AFL fan could want including live games, live score updates, radio broadcasts of the games, team lists and player profiles, match previews and post game reviews all unmetered for Telstra Customers.”