Website editors around the UK will be welcoming news today that European Court judges have ruled that Football League fixture lists are not covered under current copyright laws.
European Court judges in Luxembourg said compiling match fixture lists needed "significant" work and skill, but did not entail the creativity required for copyright protection.
Yahoo, bookmaker Stan James and sports information firm Enetpulse had been accused of breaching EU copyright laws and the case was brought on behalf of the Football Leagues by Football Dataco who are the firm responsible for protecting the rights acquired in English and Scottish football league fixtures, and whom said the trio of firms had breached copyright by failing to pay for the use of the match schedules.
The case will interest thousands of website editors around the country who are prevented from publishing fixture lists - including on the Footy Mad network, unless editors pay for a licence.
Each club are free to nominate one website to receive "club approved" status which involves a nominal £1 fee to be paid, however other website editors face a fee of around £100 the last time we checked a couple of seasons ago and larger firms face fee's of over £1000 in order to be able to publish the lists.
Strangely, leagues below the Football League, including the Conference, do not come under the same strange rules!
To read the full article, click here.