Page 4 - Weekly highlights

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Weekly highlights

Legal campaign against football
Legal campaign against football

broadcasting pirates
broadcasting pirates

Broadcast rights for sporting events amount to millions of US dollars and also give rise to legal actions as is currently the case in the commercial courts of Casablanca and Rabat (Photo by DR)

L ESS than a month away Telecom carrier and Amine Cherif illegally distribute their content from address. Example: kooora4live.net,
kooora4live.com and kooora4live.
from the 2022 FIFA World for Orange, the other telecom carrier. abroad where they have their ser-
tv. Despite their reluctance at the
Cup in Qatar, broadcast As for Inwi, the third Moroccan car- vers”, explains a specialist in tech-
rights are in the spotlight. rier, apparently, a representative of nology law and regulatory law. beginning, the courts grasped the
beIN Sports Mena took legal action its legal department asked for a delay It was not so easy to bring this legal interest and originality of this case.
on October 12 and 13, 2022. The to appoint his counsel. beIN Sports action to a successful conclusion. A first judicial expert was appoin-
Qatari TV complains about pirate Mena hired the services of Bakouchi beIN Sports Mena and the other two ted on November 26, 2021 before
sites that violate its exclusive rights & Habachi Law Firm, the goal being plaintiffs had to insist on getting their being replaced, which is almost a
to broadcast the English and Spanish the suspension of the broadcasting case on track. It was first necessary year before the first hearing in Octo-
football championships. The admi- of matches through these pirate sites. to obtain the appointment of a legal ber 2022. Youness El Handassi was
nistrators of the company stream the As a result, Moroccan telecom ope- expert and a process server to esta- accompanied by a process server
matches without paying any rights. rators are in the line of sight. These blish the facts to support the legal ac- during his mission . “Pirates or not,
The Qatari TV channel is however internet service providers were noti- tion. The justice department seemed these sites do broadcast the matches
the holder of exclusive licenses with fied at their headquarters on Friday, at first taken aback by this request. of a popular sport. Their users bene-
the English Premier League asso- October 21, 2022. Inwi and Orange This type of request on broadcas- fit from it without paying any fees.
ciation and the “La Liga Nacional are located in Casablanca. Itissalat ting rights is not so customary in Admittedly, this is a loss of earnings
de Fútbol Profesional” company. Al-Maghrib is based in Rabat. “The judicial practice. Also, the econo- for licensed broadcasters. But it is
Based in London and Madrid res- sports channel and its commercial mic profile of those called to the bar also a form of democratization of
pectively, these copyright holders partners are not part of a pure and explains why the various courts of sport whose exploitation rights have
and neighbors are also parties in this hard litigation logic. It relies rather justice passed on the hot potato to reached astronomical sums. It’s a
case. A summary procedure, meaning on the cooperation of telecom ope- each other at the start. Should the bit like the story of Robin Hood who
an emergency procedure, has been rators”, said a judicial source who civil or commercial courts hear the steals from the rich to give to the
initiated in the commercial courts of wished to remain anonymous. One of case? This supposed jurisdictional poor ”, comments a knowledgeable
Casablanca and Rabat. A first hea- the difficulties of this case is that the dispute eventually evaporated. The observer and football fan. Pirate sites
ring took place on Monday, October websites are not static. You suspend plaintiffs have been persistent. The make a lot of money on the backs of
24, 2022. The lawyers for each of the their IP address on one side, and they justice department asked them to channels like beIN Sports or Canal
parties declared themselves on be- simultaneously emerge on the other. make a request for each pirate site Plus, but the general public could not
half of their clients before the judges. “They regenerate themselves under instead of just one, even though care less... o
Lawyer Zineb Hamzi for the Maroc another IP address and continue to they have an almost similar email Faiçal FAQUIHI
Friday 28 October 2022