AFL hails court decision against Optus

7 Sep 2012, 5:32 pm   -   Source: AAP
Optus failed in its bid to appeal a ban on its broadcast of NRL and AFL matches on mobile devices. (AAP)

Optus failed in its bid to appeal a ban on its broadcast of NRL and AFL matches on mobile devices. (AAP)

The AFL has welcomed a High Court decision that means Optus customers will not be able to watch games on their mobile devices.

The AFL says a High Court ruling preventing Optus from restarting a service allowing customers to watch matches on their mobile devices protects important commercial rights.

Friday's decision was a joint victory for the AFL and NRL, which were partners in the legal battle against Optus.

The AFL sold its five-year mobile and internet broadcast rights to Telstra for $153 million last year, while the NRL is still in negotiations over its next mobile broadcast rights.

Friday's decision denied Optus the right to appeal a ruling against it made by the full bench of the Federal Court in April.

"The High Court's decision confirms the position taken by the AFL in relation to Optus' service and maintains the protection of important commercial rights," The AFL said in a statement.

Optus was also ordered to pay the AFL's costs.

With the court process now exhausted, Optus will shut down its TV Now service, which was suspended indefinitely as a result of the April decision.

That decision overturned an earlier Federal Court ruling, which had allowed Optus customers to watch AFL and NRL games on mobile devices as soon as two minutes after they screened live on television.

Optus had argued it equated to customers recording shows for their own personal use, so did not breach copyright laws.

Despite Friday's ruling, Optus says the complicated issue of internet broadcast rights was not over.

The telco plans to take the matter to the Australian Law Reform Commission.

"This is a very important public policy issue that still needs to be resolved to give clarity to both consumers and the industry," Optus' vice president of corporate and regulatory affairs David Epstein said.

"This is a debate that continues."

Research suggests more than half of Australians watched content on their laptop or mobile device, and almost 40 per cent chose to download or stream TV, so the issue needed to be clarified and resolved, he said.

"Online storage is here and with us now, so we think it's time to confront the realities of that," Mr Epstein said.

"We can't shut ourselves off from the world."

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