In this criminal case,(1) the Supreme Court dealt with complicated questions of territoriality and clarified when broadcasting signals from abroad may enjoy protection under the Copyright Act.
A television company with its domicile in Qatar, whose business consisted of broadcasting sporting events and producing its own content which was broadcast during breaks, transmitted broadcasting signals through fibre cable to their branch in France. The signals were then transmitted to Great Britain and Spain for an uplink to satellites before the signals were received by their subscribers on the ground.
Pursuant to section 48 of the Copyright Act, radio and television companies have certain exclusive rights to their broadcasting signals. It is the broadcasting signals themselves (and not what is being broadcast) that enjoy protection under this so-called “signal right”, which establishes inter alia that radio and television companies have an exclusive right to re-broadcast their broadcasting signals. However, the Copyright Act only applies to broadcasts which:
