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A GLASGOW bar has become the first in Scotland to be fined for illegally screening English Premiership footy matches.

The Merchant’s Quay Bar, on the city’s Paisley Road West, faces a fine of up to £6,000.

Staff at the pub are thought to have been screening live matches from the English top flight using either foreign internet feeds, or European digiboxes - which are legal for individuals, but not for use in commercial premises such as bars and restaurants.

Commercial premises wishing to show matches need the permission of the copyright holders - the League and its member clubs, including the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea, and Liverpool FC.

The move follows an 18-month crackdown in Scotland by Premier League officials from south of the border.

They have recently sent 31 “letters before action” to establishments across Scotland - but in the majority of cases the pubs have written back and agreed to cease broadcasts of matches which infringed copyright.

Administrators have pledged to get tough with premises who continue to broadcast matches illegally - with those who continue to flout the law being hit with fines.

Premier League bosses want to preserve the mammoth deal they to receive in exchange for screening lives games.

A recent bidding war between Sky and BT saw the overall value of live TV rights for the Premier League top a whopping £5.14 billion over three seasons.

The figure is a 70 per cent increase on the previous deal of £3bn over three seasons - meaning the broadcasters are paying an average of more than £10 million per match.

The Premier League said a judgement against the Merchant’s Quay Bar had been made through the Court of Session, after it was previously issued with an interim interdict to cease broadcasts.

The total cost of the fine will be worked out at a later hearing, but could total around £6,000.

A Premier League spokesman said: “The courts granted the judgement following failure by the defendants to engage in the case, despite several attempt to contact the publican.”

The Premier League have issued recent interim interdicts against five other Scottish establishments - Glasgow pubs The Drop and The Viceroy, Monteith’s in Gourock, Inverclyde, the Horse Shoe Bar in Paisley, and Kirkcaldy’s Bogarts.

Speaking about the interdicts, the Premier League spokesman added: “That means we are waiting for them to get to court, and while we wait they are not allowed to make the broadcasts which we believe infringe our copyright.

“We will continue to take action against suppliers of systems which allow pubs to breach our copyright.”