The Protection of Sports Broadcast Rights in the Commonwealth Caribbean after TVJ v CVM

Abstract

Although sport, in its myriad forms, represent a major pillar of Caribbean societies, sports broadcasters have suffered tremendous loss over the years as a result of signal piracy. With the increasing recognition of the value of broadcast rights in generating much-needed revenue, and the commensurate increased awareness among broadcasters as to how the law may protect these rights, sports broadcasters in the Caribbean have, in the recent years, become a lot more adversarial in their dealings with infringers of their copyright in broadcasts. This has culminated in a recent decision, Television Jamaica v CVM, in which a Caribbean superior court has, for the first time, delivered a landmark judgment on the scope of copyright protection in sports broadcasts. The decision is timely, well-reasoned and progressive, and address a number of nuanced questions, which previously remained unanswered. By drawing on regional copyright legislation, jurisprudence from other jurisdictions, and the recently decided TVJ v CVM case, this article argues that, for the first time, broadcasters in the Caribbean are afforded an adequate and effective level of protection against infringement of their broadcasts, albeit that they cannot claim a monopoly in said broadcasts, since the fair dealing defence has been construed as balancing the rights and interests of competing stakeholders in the field of sport.

Keywords

• damages
• fair dealing
• copyright
• broadcast
• sports
• Caribbean