Licensor Targets Restauranteur for Stealing June 2021 Soccer Match

Integrated Sports Media is the license company that was exclusively authorized to sublicense the telecast of the June 2021 soccer match between Brazil and Ecuador for exhibition at closed-circuit locations such as theaters, arenas, bars and restaurants, said its complaint Tuesday (docket 3:22-cv-02851) in U.S. District Court for Northern Texas in Dallas. It alleges defendant Alex Morante, owner of the El Rincon Latino Restaurant in Dallas, either by satellite transmission or through unauthorized receipt over a cable system, “willfully intercepted or received the interstate communication” of the telecast without a license, in violation of the Telecommunications Act. Establishments that contracted with Integrated to broadcast the telecast “were provided with the electronic decoding capability and/or satellite coordinates necessary to receive the signal,” it said. Had Morante chosen to buy the telecast, he would have been authorized “to receive, transmit and publish” it in his restaurant, but opted not to do so, in violation of the statute, it said. The complaint seeks up to $170,000 in statutory damages for Morante’s willful misconduct, plus pre- and post-judgment interest “at the highest rate permitted by law.” Attempts to reach Morante for comment Wednesday were unsuccessful.