TWO landlords have won the right to show live Premiership football in their pubs on Saturday afternoons.

The Bolton licensees were taken to court after Sky accused them of infringing the Copyright Act.

It followed a ruling by European football's governing body, UEFA, that outlawed showing Saturday afternoon football, in line with wishes of the Premier League and broadcaster BSkyB.

The licensees argued that they had not broken any laws, saying they legitimately subscribed to a broadcaster in another country which shows live Premiership football as games are beamed across the world.

The first victory came in February at Bolton Magistrates Court and involved pub manager Ian Moss of The Saddle in Farnworth.

Earlier this month, Enterprise Inns tenant Eileen Flint also appeared in court for showing a match at the Original Bay Horse in Horwich using a decoder and foreign subscription card.

Both denied dishonesty and were cleared of a breach of copyright.

Sky and the Premier League fear fans will stop watching matches live at football stadiums if they could watch the game in the comfort of their local pub.

A "closed period" had been set up, barring pubs from showing live 3pm Saturday matches.

Now, following the court rulings, Westhoughton brewery Anchor Inns Northern Ltd says pubs which buy a satellite signal legitimately from abroad are not breaking any law if they choose to show the games.

And it is calling on other licensees to fight any prosecutions brought against them by the Media Protection Services (MPS), which investigates illegal screenings.

Jim Powell, managing director of Anchor Inns, said: "We feel MPS, which is acting on behalf of Sky, is just using bullying tactics.

"In my view hundreds of licensees have been frightened by the thought of facing huge legal costs. We just feel that their ruling is not relevant to us because we buy the signal from another source who have paid Sky for it. Licensees need to know they no longer have to lie down and accept it, they can fight it."

MPS takes licensees to court for infringing the Copyright Act.

But Bolton solicitor Joe Egan, who represented both licensees, said a second defeat for the Premier League brought the whole issue of screening Saturday foreign TV transmissions into doubt.

He said: "I don't think these decisions are aberrations, I think the magistrates have got it spot on. In order to be guilty of this offence, you have to intend to avoid the applicable payment."

He said pubs are paying for the signal legitimately and so cannot be found guilty of dishonesty.

"It's just nonsense, you cannot be found guilty of avoiding a fee you cannot even pay in the first place," he added.

Dan Johnson, a spokesman for the Premier League, said: "There are no rights for the general bar trade to show football games at 3pm on a Saturday afternoon. It's illegal and if people transgress we will take them to court."

He said the two court rulings in Bolton were "rogue decisions" and just because a licensees had paid a foreign broadcaster for a signal it did not give them the copyright to the games.

"It's a breach of copyright. If those rights have been sold abroad then they are only for use in that region."

Mr Johnson added that there was lots of anecdotal evidence which showed attendeces at football games fell when the matches were being shown in pubs and that it also led to a fall in the number of people playing football on a Saturday.