The national channel has been airing long match segments since June last year, when a new EU directive established the right of television channels to air excerpts of sporting events as part of news stories, even if they have not bought the rights to broadcast the events.

 

The excerpts were taken from the websites of NRK's competitor TV2, which has brought the rights to Norwegian premiership games. 

 

"We had hoped that it wouldn't go as far as court, but we have to protect our exclusive right to broadcast these matches," Knut Kristvang of Fotball Media AS, which manages the Norwegian FA's rights, told Klassekampen newspaper.

 

NRK's legal director Olaf Nyhus said that Fotball Media appeared to have missed the entire point of the EU directive. 

 

"We have interpreted the wording of the directive as responsibly as we possibly can," he said. "It remains to see what will be the outcome of this."