James Mellor QC and Jessie Bowhill appeared for the claimants, Martin Howe QC for the defendant, and Charlotte May for the UK government. The ECJ answered the question of interpretation of Directive 2001/29 referred by Floyd J in the High Court, [2011] EWHC 2977 (Pat).
The ECJ ruled that the internet streaming of free-to-air TV broadcasts to persons within the catchment area does amount to a new transmission to the public within Article 3 of the Directive if it is performed by an organisation other than the original broadcasting organisation, since it involved the distribution of the broadcast by a different technical means from that used for the distribution of the original broadcast.