While researching Watford FC for the previous post, I came across this rank injustice.
The Watford FC fan site, known as “Bad, Stupid & Desperate” is no longer allowed to post information on future fixtures because of the niggardly policy of Football Data Co Ltd, who, uncontent with the mint they make from distributing results and promoting gambling, threatened the Watford fan site with legal action if it didn’t remove the list of Watford’s forthcoming fixtures. It makes you wonder what football’s all about! Is it for the fans or for the money making interests?!
If you wish to help natural justice, please do one of the following things.
1. Have your MP table the following EDM
“That this House abhors Football DataCo Ltd’s niggardly policy of threatening legal action against football fan websites that publish a list of their team’s future fixtures and calls on the Minister for Sport to look into this injustice”.
2. Ask the Commons library for detailed information about the following company, its accounts and directors - and send that information to me.
FOOTBALL DATACO LIMITED
11 CONNAUGHT PLACE
LONDON
W2 2ET
Company No. 04210887
3. Have your MP table questions in the House on this burning issue.
4. Call the press and storm the barricades!
It is not lost on me that Football Dataco shares an address with the FA. Is it possible they are so stingy because they’re saving up for Sven’s £5m payoff?
recessmonkey@gmail.com
editor[at]recessmonkey.com
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Seem to recall that DataCo were pestering MPs with lobbying letters a couple of months back, upset at their loss of monopoly on Scottish footie results…
dynamite said this on January 24th, 2006 at 8:53 pm
This has been going on for a while.
I’ll certain be promoting the EDM, but I am also going to challenge this directly by writing to DataCo.
I’ve been dealing with copyright law in various ways for near on the last ten years and, as laymen go, have developed a colid understanding of how it works.
A fixture list is statement of facts - the fixtures - arranged in chronological order - nowhere in either the Berne Convention or the CD&T Act is there any provision which makes such a thing subject to copyright. DataCo get away with this purely by sicking the legal heavies on people who don’t have the cash to put up a fight and relying on ISP’s panicking any time a claim of infringement hits their inbox.
So, what I will be doing is e-mailing DataCo to enquire as to precisely what their understanding of copyroght law is in this matter and to ask that there refer me specifically to the relevant section of CD&T or appropriate case law which backs up their claims, and then I’ll take it from there. What I may do is look at the option of a class-action based challenge to CD&T and see if I can track down a brief who might be willing to do a bit of pro bono work.
Unity said this on January 25th, 2006 at 2:38 am
Let me know when you are seeking a Barrister - I have a couple of friends I could ask.
Recess Monkey said this on January 25th, 2006 at 9:38 am
its a silly one, this one. not being able to publish the dates of games that will be happening is like not being able to publish the dates of religious or public holidays
stupid i tell you!
HDTB said this on January 25th, 2006 at 10:51 am
Just to be a pedant, and to prove I am a REAL Watford fan, can I just point out that it’s “Blind, Stupid and Desperate” not “Bad, Stupid and Desperate”.
And there’s no truth in the rumours I am Bland, Stupid and Desperate before anyone makes that observation. Thanks.
Kerron said this on January 25th, 2006 at 12:40 pm
under no circumstances would I ever call you stupid Kerron
Recess Monkey
Recess Monkey said this on January 25th, 2006 at 3:16 pm
I am well used to this lot during my day job.
There has been a ruling in the Euro courts about this, well it was horse racing fixtures but I am sure the ruling applied to sporting events, that said they couldn’t enforce this.
I think the horse racing body are appealing the ruling…I am a bit lost with it all.
But a quick google on horse racing and european court pulled up a few good results:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/horse_racing/4678771.stm
Your link the the football data co website is wrong they don’t have a website as far as I am aware…they are owned by the PA i think though..
John Wards said this on January 25th, 2006 at 3:27 pm
yes, this is a big rip-off and i think everybody pays - newspaper, tv etc - who wants to publish the results.
the fa and the clubs should be paying to have their overpriced matches publicised, not the other way round
brixtonblue said this on January 26th, 2006 at 12:20 am
The ECJ judgement is referred to - here
What it establishes is that fixture list has no legal protection under sui generis rights accorded by the EC database directive, which leave only the claim to copyright to knock over.
That, from case law, is based on a precedent set in Blacklock v Pearson in 1915 in relation to railway timetables and from my reading of subsequent rulings the basis of this case it out of step with the provisions of the Berne Convention as per the publishing for facts.
In short it should be possible to knock this ruling over.
Unity said this on January 26th, 2006 at 1:01 am
I run another football website and we have also had the same legal threats from DataCo. They seem to be after as much cash as possible and have already threatened to have our site pulled by our ISP
Matt said this on January 26th, 2006 at 5:53 pm
We too have been threatened with legal action against us for publishing football fixtures on our non-profit fan site.
To attempt to get around this and generally piss DataCo off, we then put all forthcoming fixtures in anagram form.
They didn’t like this either and are still threatening us.
Thing is, they didn’t really bank on me being a second year law student. After reading the aforementioned cases and realising that the only case the Football League are relying on is the 1959 case of Football League v. Littlewoods, if they want a fight, they can have one. Our hosting company is more than supportive. I’ll be taking a week to further research our legal position before responding to one of many threatening emails from DataCo to clarify their intention.
Not like they can sponge much out of me in damages anyway!
Lindsay Clayton said this on February 10th, 2006 at 1:59 pm