The Federal Court on Wednesday ruled that the telecommunications company can record and transmit free-to-air television shows over the internet to its customers. Optus’ TV Now service had invoked the ire of the Australian Football League (AFL), the National Rugby League (NRL) and Telstra, which had all sought an injunction. The service allows Optus to transmit programming such as live sports games on a delay of as little as two minutes on Apple mobile devices.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported that both the AFL and NRL are likely to appeal the decision, but it is unclear whether Telstra will join future proceedings. Telstra paid a reported A$153 million (US$164.2 million) for the online broadcast rights to the leagues last year. AFL chief operating officer Gill McLachlan said: “Our view is that (Optus) is in breach both of the (letter of the) legislation and of the spirit of the legislation.”

The NRL is placed in a particularly delicate position with the League scheduled to negotiate a new set of broadcast and internet rights later this year. NRL chief executive David Gallop said the outcome was “a major concern that clearly has the capacity to devalue the ability of sports (bodies) to sell exclusive rights”.

In his ruling, Justice Steven Rares found that TV Now did not breach copyright because consumers were responsible for requesting each recording with Optus keeping separate recordings for each customer. Any appeal against the ruling is likely to take all year meaning that Optus is now free to advertise its service for the coming AFL and NRL seasons. “Convergence is upon us and we need to ensure that Australians have the choice, convenience and flexibility to access content when and where they want,” said Optus spokeswoman Clare Gill.