European Court of Justice upholds enforcement of sports data rights

The European Court of Justice has ruled that the owners of sports data protected by database rights (see Data Protection and Sport) can enforce their rights in the EU country where the sports data is received on the internet regardless of where the server using those rights is located.  The ECJ ruled that a company which repackages the sports data can, therefore, be deemed to be making the data “available to the public” by sending it on to internet betting websites.  The ruling is important for sports data owners as it prevents unauthorised users of sports data from avoiding liability by locating servers in countries where there is little prospect of enforcement.