Broadcasting football matches in a bar without paying royalties is a slight crime against the market and consumers. You know why?
Here in Spain it is almost a tradition to go to a bar to watch our team's soccer matches with our friends. What you may not know is that these establishments have to have the corresponding permission to broadcast them and, if not, they may have criminal consequences.
Possible crimes committed by the bar that puts on football without permission
In these cases, two possible crimes are put in check. The first, against intellectual property, and the second, a minor crime against the market and consumers.
Crime against intellectual property
Since the crime against intellectual property must have been carried out against a literary and/or scientific work or provision, the retransmission of football matches would be excluded.
Crime against the market and consumers
Another problem would be the crime against the market and consumers, which includes those crimes of a socioeconomic nature that go against the market, free competition and consumers and whose seriousness entails a punishment greater than an administrative sanction.
The same Spanish Constitution establishes consumer protection in a free market system. And the result of this is that the consumer must be protected against misleading advertising, against free competition and against the abuse of privileged information, among others.
Consequently, broadcasting football matches in a bar without paying the rights that authorize it is a minor crime against the market and consumers, but not a crime against intellectual property, which could lead to a prison sentence.
Let's not forget that who they are trying to protect is ultimately the consumers, and, therefore, although it may not seem so to us, they are criminal measures to guarantee your rights.
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