SWEDEN Law and Practice Contributed by: Karl Ole Möller, Nordia Law
to a wide range of football content, including national team matches and various football cups. Broadcasters and rights-holders typically negoti - ate venue access agreements that allow them to broadcast live events from stadiums. Broadcast - ers and rights-holders work together to prevent unauthorised use of their content, such as online piracy, for instance via illegal IPTV services. As mentioned in 2.3 Broadcasting , Swedish law does not recognise independent proprietary rights in a sports event per se. The idea or con - cept for a sport event is not protectable under Swedish intellectual property laws. However, the sport event organiser generally protects the event and the commercial rights related to the event through a combination of real property law, contractual provisions, intellectual property law and tort law. The event organiser generally holds control of access to the venue of the event. This means that the event organiser may restrict third-party access and ensure, through various agreements, that entrants are not entitled to benefit commer - cially from their attendance. 3. Sports Events 3.1 Relationships The event organiser may also protect the various commercial rights in the event through agree - ments related to the entry to the event (ticket - ing), sponsorship, broadcasting, merchandising, catering, hospitality, etc. Entry to the event is based on the ticketing agreement between the organiser and the spec - tator (governed by the Contracts Act and the
general principles of contract law). The ticket terms and conditions must be brought to the attention of the spectator at the time of ticket purchase. Access to the event may be granted on specific terms, usually described on the ticket itself, or by notices placed at the venue. If the ticket is purchased on the internet, the spe - cific ticket conditions will be listed on the seller’s website. The event organiser may impose spe - cific terms for entry, such as refusing access to the event for security reasons, restrictions on ticket resale and recording footage of the event, restricting access to the event to certain speci - fied areas of the venue and specifying the ticket holder is over a certain age. 3.2 Liability Event Organisers An event organiser’s non-contractual civil liability is partly governed by the Swedish Tort Liabil - ity Act and partly by Swedish case law. Event organisers have a pronounced duty of care for the spectators’ and the athletes’ safety. If a spectator is injured because of dangerous premises, a breach of duty will arise for the event organiser (for instance a sports club who own its own arena or a club which leases the premises). Non-contractual liability normally covers per - sonal injury and loss of, or damage to property. Compensation for pure financial loss is exclud - ed, except in the case of criminal behaviour. Liability requires an event organiser’s negligence and must be evaluated in each specific case by reviewing whether the organiser has fulfilled its obligations deriving from applicable legislation and the safety instructions of the sport governing bodies. Damages may be reduced if the plaintiff has contributed, by fault or negligence, to the injury sustained. Damages are only awarded for
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