Only 15 days ago, we announced that Igor Seoane, the creator of Rojadirecta, the well-known website with unofficial links to live sporting events, was facing 6 years in prison and a fine of 6 million euros (not to mention the payment of 4 million as bail). All this for an accusation of a crime against intellectual property, having already been exonerated of the crimes of tax fraud and criminal organization.
But, apart from this criminal proceeding against Seoane, a commercial proceeding is also open against Puerto 80 Project (the company that owns Rojadirecta), initiated in 2015 after lawsuits by Canal+ and Mediapro, the television stations affected by the broadcasts broadcast by Rojadirecta.
The Supreme Court agrees with regional justice
After the commercial court of La Coruña agreed with them in 2016, and the Provincial Court confirmed the closure of the website in 2018, the head of Rojadirecta had filed an amparo appeal before the Supreme Court…
…an appeal that, according to El Confidencial, the Supreme Court has not admitted for processing: in its verdict on the commercial processes promoted by Telefónica and Mediapro, the court endorses the affirmation that the activity of Rojadirecta did infringe intellectual property and that, therefore, the website must remain closed.
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At this point, Puerto 80 Project only has to file an amparo appeal before the Constitutional Court or an amparo claim before the Strasbourg Court.
Before the matter reached the hands of the Supreme Court, the courts had already ruled that Rojadirecta had not been acting as an ‘intermediary’, but as a content provider, which justified the closure of the website and gave plaintiffs the right to compensation.
Beyond Rojadirecta
Perhaps some reader will be surprised to read that Rojadirecta has been ‘offline’ since 2016; Indeed, all the websites that currently make use of the term ‘rojadirecta’ in one way or another are unrelated to the company that owns the original, intending either to pay homage to it, or to play confusion to attract users.
This news comes a month and a half after another ruling issued by Barcelona’s Mercantile Court number 6 gave free rein for Internet operators to access domains that were in the sights of LaLiga for broadcasting football without a license, an achievement for Movistar+ and LaLiga after some time trying to achieve a faster and simpler way to request domain blocking.