Television rebroadcasters in court

Four partners of a private telecommunications company in Daimiel, Ciudad Real, will be tried from today in the Provincial Court for offering their clients the possibility of watching soccer matches of different competitions through the Bein Sports HD 17 channel.

According to the document of provisional conclusions of the prosecutor’s office, from an undetermined date but at least until October 2018, the company Ven’kia has been marketing and distributing the signal of foreign channels, specifically the channel “Bein Sports HD 17” produced by Mediaproduccion SLU.

On these channels, matches from the Spanish Professional Football League (Liga Santander) and competitions organised by UEFA (Champions League and Europa League) were broadcast, incorporated into the range of channels that ‘Daimiel TV’ offered to its subscribers, both individuals and communities of owners or hospitality establishments.

The offer was part of its pay television service, knowing that the distribution within Spanish territory of the channel signal “Bein Sports HD 17” in which football matches were broadcast was illegal, without having the required authorisation of Mediaproducto S.LU and with the intention of obtaining an economic benefit, according to the public ministry.

Likewise, the prosecutor maintains that between January 2014 and October 2018 ‘DAIMIEL TV’ gathered at least 1,578 clients subscribed to the television service, obtaining in those 58 monthly payments an amount of 1,098,288 euro (at a rate of 12 euro per month per each subscriber).

To provide said television signal to the clients who were subscribers, the defendants received the encoded signal through a legal receiver, and then manipulated it technically, by means of deviation and connection to a predetermined channel with which they would have existing image rights, to the that would cause the deviation of the signal from the pay channel.

To do this, they previously informed their clients that they would be aware that a certain channel would be broadcasting the football matches that were broadcast by Canal Being Sport 17 HD, which is only broadcast in Morocco, without being allowed to do so in Spain.

The prosecutor considered that these events constitute a crime against intellectual property, for which he requests that the accused be sentenced to three years and six months in prison.

In addition, it requests that the company be fined a fine of 2,196,576 euro, double the profit obtained, as well as that, as civil liability, the accused jointly and severally indemnify as subsidiary civil liability Mediaproduccion SLU in the amount of 1,098,288 euro, together with legal interest.

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