Australia’s Federal Court last week ruled that Optus can record and transmit free-to-air television shows over the internet to its customers. The telecommunication company’s 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.
Leading sports officials urged the government to change the Copyright Act and protect their multi-billion-dollar broadcast rights at a Canberra meeting with the Prime Minister, Attorney-General Nicola Roxon, Communications Minister Stephen Conroy and Sport Minister Mark Arbib.
NRL chief executive David Gallop said the delegation asked for a simple change to the Copyright Act to protect property. “It was widely accepted that the technology has overtaken the law in this instance,” said Gallop, according to The Australian. “We are dealing with a situation where the copyright of our content, which is an asset on our balance sheet, has been transferred to the balance sheet of another organisation, namely Optus, without our consent. We will be appealing the court decision, but...we need an urgent response by way of an amendment to the legislation.”
The AFL recently agreed a five-year deal with Telstra worth A$153 million (US$165.4 million) and the League’s chief executive, Andrew Demetriou, stated the Optus ruling has the potential to undermine this agreement. Describing the meeting as constructive, Demetriou said: “We got a fair hearing and we're encouraged by the feedback. Everyone understands how serious an issue this is for all sports in this country.”
A spokesman for Roxon said Labor was considering the views expressed by the sporting bodies. “Important in the government's considerations will be the rights of consumers and content producers, while also working to maintain a sustainable legal framework that accommodates the innovative digital environment,” the spokesman said.