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Joe Hand Productions Sues Texas Venue for Illegally Showing Boxing Match

Flores Property Holdings and owner Jaime Flores showed the Floyd Mayweather vs. Logan Paul boxing match on June 6, 2021, without authorization from Joe Hand Productions, which held the exclusive commercial license for exhibiting the closed-circuit broadcast, alleged a Communications Act complaint (docket 2:24-cv-00099) Thursday in U.S. District Court for Southern Texas in Corpus Christi. The defendants illegally intercepted the broadcast to avoid paying the proper commercial sublicense fee to Joe Hand, the complaint said. The broadcast originated via satellite uplink and was retransmitted interstate to cable systems and satellite television companies via satellite signal, said the complaint. The establishment made sales during the broadcast, including an entry fee, table and drink set-up fees, drinks and food; public display of the match "was to entice patrons to” the venue to spend money while watching it, the complaint alleged. The plaintiff seeks statutory damages of up to the maximum of $100,000 for each willful violation, plus attorneys’ fees and costs.