The court said that any national legislation that prohibits the import, sale or use of foreign decoder cards is contrary to the freedom to provide services and cannot be justified either in light of the objective of protecting intellectual property rights or by the objective of encouraging the public to attend football stadiums. According to the ruling, the league cannot claim that its matches fall under copyright law. Even though EU law could allow copyright protection for the matches under national law, a ban on using foreign decoder cards would go beyond what is necessary to ensure appropriate remuneration for the rights holders.
The court said that the requirement for territorial exclusivity in the licences may result in artificial price differences between the partitioned national markets, which is contrary to the EU's aim of a single market. For the same reason, prohibiting a licence holder from selling decoder cards in another member state is against EU competition law.
The court did concede that certain elements of the broadcast can fall under copyright protection, and thus a pub owner showing them to the public requires the rights holders authorisation. These include elements such as the opening video sequence or the Premier League anthem, but not the matches themselves.
