The NRL has launched its legal fightback against a Federal Court decision allowing Optus to show delayed matches on mobile phones.

Lawyers for the NRL on Wednesday began an appeal against a February ruling that found Optus had not breached copyright laws by allowing customers to record free-to-air television programs on mobile devices and watch them on a slight delay.

In the hearing before the court’s full bench, the NRL lawyers attacked Justice Steven Rares’ likening of Optus’ TV Now service to video or digital recording devices.

“There was no material before the court to permit the exercise to be undertaken in relation to VCRs and DVRs,” barrister Noel Hutley SC said.

The NRL, AFL and Telstra Corporation are all appealing Justice Rares’ ruling that gave Optus the green light to offer its TV Now service to customers.

The AFL and NRL claim Optus’s TV Now service infringes their copyright in respect to AFL and NRL matches, for which they have multi-million-dollar contracts with Telstra.

In his ruling, Justice Rares found TV Now users had themselves made the recordings of the matches, similar to when a person used a video or digital recorder.

He also found the recordings were being made for private and domestic use and that users were responsible for making available the recording, not Optus.

This was allowed under an exception in the Copyright Act.

The NRL, AFL and Telstra want Justice Rares’ orders set aside and a permanent injunction preventing Optus from broadcasting matches on its TV Now service.

Justice Rares’ ruling has reportedly put in doubt Telstra’s $153 million, five-year deal for the online and mobile rights for AFL matches.

The appeal before Justice Desmond Finn, Justice Arthur Emmett and Justice Annabelle Bennett is expected to run for two days.