Football industry bosses say they’ll tackle publicans using foreign satellite systems to broadcast Premier League action without permission after a new British court ruling over the screening of live games in bars.

Premier League officials are claiming victory in the long-running row, saying a ruling by a judge sitting in the High Court gave them “the right” to prevent “unauthorised use of our copyrights” in pubs and clubs.

Lawyers representing publicans said the law had been “clarified” and the Premier League and broadcasting firms had suffered “only nominal or trivial damages”.

Lord Justice Kitchin, who announced his findings at a hearing in London, said the dispute had raised “issues of wide interest and general importance”.

The judge said a lower court should assess what profits some pubs had made and what losses the Premier League and broadcasters, including British Sky Broadcasting, had suffered.

Lord Justice Kitchin’s ruling came four months after the European Court of Justice (ECJ) analysed the issue and said transmission of games in pubs could be in breach of European copyright legislation.