Court date for TV Licence

No expert of the legal world, but the advert always says, if you have a tv then you must have a tv licence.

By that, I'd guess if you don't have a tv, then you don't need a tv licence.

Seems fairly clear cut.

You never received any letters allowing you to tick "no TV at this address" OP?

They normally send quite a few before going legal. I am always late paying TV license (up to 4 months just because I hate paying it) and have at least 2 or 3 in the post in that time.

The definition of "televsion set" in legislation is so broad that judges have interepreted having an aerial or satellite dish as sufficient proof (when someone has not granted access to an inspector)

" “ television set ” means any electronic apparatus capable of receiving and exhibiting television broadcasting services broadcast for general reception (whether or not its use for that purpose is dependent on the use of anything else in conjunction with it) and any software or assembly comprising such apparatus and other apparatus;"

District court judgements are not precedent forming, but if you get a judge that assumes having a dish = having a TV, good luck arguing otherwise.

Hate to burst your bubble but it's now a broadcasting licence, if you watch it through your laptop or any other device you need to have a licence, it's a joke.... Paying for RTÉ and that's the only station that your damn sure to only see shite on!!

Can you link me to proof of this please? I don't think this is true. I've tried looking this up online and I can't find any proof of what you are claiming, but maybe I'm just not looking in the right places

The TV could be incapable because it is broken. It could be deliberately broken temporarily to fool the inspector. It still needs a licence. From Citizens Information, but the OP should ignore my and all other "legal" advice here. The court will decide on the evidence presented.

Do I need a TV licence?

If you have a TV, or equipment capable of receiving a television signal (using an aerial, satellite dish, cable or other means), you must have a TV licence. This applies even if the TV is broken, as it is considered capable of being repaired.

That is planned for the future.

Yes, rte get a large proportion, but they are restricted on the amount of advertising.

And it's rte 1, rte2, rte radio. And the biggest cost is coverage of live sports such as gaa and soccer. If they dumped gaa & soccer the license fee would drop almost 40%

https://www.tvlicence.ie/home/general-faqs.html#NoSet

I only watch TV content on a monitor, Do I need a TV Licence?

You require a TV Licence in the following circumstances:

Connecting a SKY/Virgin Media/Saorview or any type of Digital TV Receiver to your monitor

Viewing any TV Programmes broadcast for general reception over broadband (e.g. Eir TV/Vodafone TV) on your monitor requires a TV Licence.

I was up in court for my TV Licence a couple of years ago, now it could have just been the judge, but there was a guy there who said he didn't have a TV and that he watched stuff on his laptop, I don't remember the finer details she fined him and that's how I remember it, I was shocked!!

"or any assembly comprising", e.g. part of the setup.

Basically, if you refuse access to an inspector, get brought to court and get the wrong judge, you're getting fined.

No that's not what it says.

it's describing what is meant by "TV set", as an apparatus capable of displaying a TV broadcast.

And then says, other than a TV set, any other apparatus capable of doing the same thing, using SW and bits and bobs..

But they all MUST be capable. exhibiting (displaying) a broadcast (live TV) image.

You do not need a TV license if you simply have an unused ariel stuck on your roof, and no other equipment.

Now the issue of declaration, might be another topic all together and how the judge deals with that.

will you be reimbursed legal fees if the judge agrees?

The key thing here is watching stuff that is broadcast for general reception. This does not include watching content off the internet. So someone watching Netflix, Amazon prime or any other streaming service on a monitor or TV (which has had tuner removed) DOES NOT require a license. This is why they want a new licensing system to include all those people who use tablets, phones, monitors to stream content from broadband or mobile data.

If some person who ended up in court was watching stuff on his laptop and it wasn't either of the below general broad cast stuff, then he was fined incorrectly and should appeal it. Or he was a moron and didn't make it clear to the judge what he was up to.

"Connecting a SKY/Virgin Media/Saorview or any type of Digital TV Receiver to your monitor

Viewing any TV Programmes broadcast for general reception over broadband (e.g. Eir TV/Vodafone TV) on your monitor requires a TV Licence."