Pay-Per-View Company Files 2 Piracy Complaints Against Calif. Bars

Pay-per-view company Innovative Sports Management filed piracy complaints against venues in Central and Northern California this week for violation of the Federal Communications Act and The Cable & Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992, along with a state statute. The complaint (5:23-cv-98) against Toby’s Cafe, San Jose, and employees Javier Perez Ortiz and Gerardo Lopez Rivera, filed in U.S. District Court for Northern California in San Jose, alleges the defendants intercepted and showed a soccer match between Bolivia and Chile in February, despite plaintiff’s exclusive nationwide rights to the match. A Monday piracy lawsuit (docket 2:23-cv-167) against Jose Natividad Marin, Jose Rivera Alvarado and Casa Honduras alleged defendants directed or permitted employees of Casa Honduras to unlawfully intercept and show the Jan. 16 soccer match between Honduras and Colombia, for which plaintiff held exclusive nationwide closed-circuit rights, said the complaint. A Thursday notice of assignment in U.S. District Court for Central California in Los Angeles directed all related Innovative Sports Management cases to District Judge Terry Hatter, and discovery matters that may be referred to a magistrate judge to Magistrate Judge Paul Abrams, said a text entry. In both cases, the plaintiff is seeking statutory damages of $170,000, legal fees and attorneys’ fees, and injunctive relief.