Program distributor Joe Hand Productions filed separate Communications Act piracy lawsuits Thursday (dockets 2:23-cv-01922 and 2:23-cv-01924) in U.S. District Court for Arizona, alleging two Phoenix-area sports bars showed their paying customers the September 2022 broadcast of the Canelo Álvarez vs. Gennady Golovkin boxing match without a license. The broadcast originated via satellite uplink and was retransmitted interstate to cable and satellite systems via satellite signal, said both complaints. Joe Hand entered into agreements with various commercial establishments in Arizona that, in exchange for a fee, allowed them to exhibit the program to their customers, they said. “In consideration of the aforementioned agreements,” Joe Hand spent “substantial monies” to market, advertise, promote, administer and transmit the program to those establishments, they said. All the defendants could have contracted with Joe Hand and purchased authorization to exhibit the program in their establishments for a fee, but instead they chose to willfully "intercept" the program via “unauthorized satellite transmission” or by “unauthorized receipt over a cable system,” said the complaints. Both complaints seek statutory damages of up $110,000 per each willful violation.

Who Daq Daiquiris and More in Midlothian, Texas, and its owner, Robin Roberts, showed the Keith Thurman vs. Mario Barrios fight in February 2022 without a license from rights owner G&G Closed Circuit Events, alleged G&G's complaint Tuesday (docket 4:23-cv-00877) in U.S. District Court for Northern Texas in Fort Worth. The closed-circuit event wasn't intended for the use of the public, the complaint said. The transmission of the fight originated via satellite and was scrambled. Establishments that contracted with G&G to broadcast the fight were given decoding capability or satellite coordinates necessary to receive the event's signal, it said. Who Daq willfully intercepted the fight or assisted in its receipt to show patrons in the bar, it said. G&G claims violation of the Communications Act and seeks statutory damages up to $10,000 for piracy, up to $50,000 for willfulness, and up to $100,000 for “unauthorized publication” of communications.

Last Call Bar & Grill in Lyles, Tennessee, pirated two professional boxing matches that Joe Hand Promotions held exclusive commercial distribution rights for, alleged a Wednesday complaint (docket 1:23-cv-00050) in U.S. District Court for Middle Tennessee in Columbia. The bar showed Jake Paul vs. Tyron Woodley Aug. 29, 2021, and Tyson Fury vs. Deontay Wilder Oct. 9, 2021, said the lawsuit, which names the bar and bar operator Dana Fann as defendants. The defendants could have contracted with the distributor to license exhibition rights for the matches but chose not to, said the complaint, saying they infringed the plaintiff’s exclusive rights while avoiding proper authorization and payment with intent to secure financial gain. Joe Hand seeks statutory damages of up to $110,000 for willful violation of the Communications Act or statutory damages of up to $60,000.

The Kavasutra Kava Bar in Tempe, Arizona, and its owner, Michael Klein, violated the Communications Act when they pirated three Ultimate Fighting Championship pay-per-view programs last summer “with the purpose and intent to secure a commercial advantage and private financial gain,” alleged licensor-distributor Joe Hand Productions in a complaint Thursday (docket 2:23-cv-01494) in U.S. District Court for Arizona in Phoenix. By unauthorized satellite transmission or, alternatively, by unauthorized receipt over a cable system, the defendants “willfully intercepted or received the interstate communication” of the programs, it said. They then unlawfully “published” them for the enjoyment of customers in the establishment or assisted in such actions, it said. The complaint seeks statutory damages of up to $170,000 for each willful violation.

U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman for Western Texas in Austin awarded judgment in favor of plaintiff Innovative Sports Management for recovery of damages from a Manor, Texas, bar and restaurant and its owners for showing the December 2018 Canelo Alvarez vs. Rocky Fielding boxing match telecast without a license, said Pitman’s signed order Tuesday (docket 1:21-cv-01116). The plaintiff is entitled to recover $40,000 in damages, plus attorneys’ fees amounting to nearly $3,000, said the order.

G&G Closed Circuit events failed to state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action, said defendant William Sosa, owner of Mr. BBQ Grill in Pico Rivera, California, in response (docket 2:23-cv-04058) to a May cable piracy complaint the sports event distributor brought in U.S. District Court for Northern Georgia in Atlanta. G&G claims Mr. BBQ Grill publicly showed the Deontay Wilder vs. Robert Helenius Championship Fight Oct. 15, without a sublicense, in violation of Title 47 of the Communications Act (see 2305260041). Any injuries sustained by G&G were caused in whole or part by the intentional behavior and negligence of third parties for whom Sosa is not legally responsible, and any damages found against Mr. BBQ were the result of acts of G&G or third parties, he said. G&G “has at all times acted in bad faith in its business dealings” with Sosa, and its causes of action are barred by the doctrine of unclean hands, said the response. Any damages suffered are due to G&G’s “own failures and faults,” all claims and obligations it seeks were caused by its own “wrongful conduct,” and the claims and obligations G&G seeks rely on the existence of agreements that are barred by the statute of frauds, the response said. Plaintiff’s causes of action and form of recovery are barred because the distributor hasn’t suffered any injury-in-fact for which it doesn't have a private right of action, it said. Sosa may have additional defenses or claims available to him that he’s not aware of and reserves the right to allege additional defenses, counterclaims, or third-party claims if they become known, or as they evolve during the litigation, said the response. Sosa requested that the complaint be dismissed with prejudice and that judgment be entered in his favor.

Island Seas Lounge in Brooklyn intercepted and showed the Gervonta Davis vs. Hector Luis Garcia championship fight Jan. 7 without authorization from distributor G&G Closed Circuit Events, said a Friday complaint (docket 1:23-cv-04900) in U.S. District Court for Eastern New York in Brooklyn. G&G contracted with various establishments throughout New York for rights to broadcast the fight in exchange for a fee, but the defendant showed the program on three screens in front of about 125 people for commercial gain without paying the $1,000 rights fee, said the complaint. G&G seeks damages of $10,000 for each violation of the Communications Act and up to $100,000 for each willful violation, plus attorneys’ fees and court costs.

Plano, Texas-based Moxie’s Grill and Bar showed an Ultimate Fighting Championship match without authorization and for commercial use, alleges a Communications Act complaint (docket 4:23-cv-00610) by distribution rights owner Joe Hand Promotions Wednesday in U.S. District Court for Eastern Texas in Sherman. The bar pirated the pay-per-view broadcast of Ultimate Fighting Championship 251: Kamaru Usman vs. Jorge Masvidal, a mixed martial arts match, in July 2020, without consent, the plaintiff said. The match was electronically coded or scrambled and “not available to or intended for the free use of the general public on the scheduled date and at the time” of the program, it said. Plaintiff seeks statutory damages of up to $10,000 for violation of Section 605 of 47 U.S.C., and up to $100,000 for willful violation, or up to $50,000 for willful violation of Section 553; it also seeks attorney’s fees, interest and legal costs.

T-Mobile didn't "owe a duty to prevent third-party crime,” said the carrier Friday in its reply (docket 2:23-cv-00271) in U.S. District Court for Western Washington in Seattle in support of its motion to dismiss a negligence suit over an alleged SIM swap scam (see 2305230019). Plaintiff Eman Bayani alleged in February he lost “thousands of dollars” in a SIM swap after third-party criminals hacked into his online cryptocurrency account and stole his digital currency, said his complaint, alleging violations of the Communications Act and Stored Communications Act. T-Mobile moved to dismiss the case in April, saying Bayani ignored MetroPCS’ warning that it strives to protect customers from cyberattacks but its terms and conditions (T&Cs) say it “cannot guarantee security.” Bayani responded that the T&Cs are “the very definition of a one-sided contract of adhesion, in which T-Mobile attempts to insulate itself from liability in every way possible.” In its Friday reply, T-Mobile said the limitations provision of the contract “goes both ways” and “all claims must be brought within 1 year of the date the claim arises." It said the court should incorporate the T&Cs because courts "routinely incorporate contracts” where the parties’ contractual limitations period bars the claims and where claims “allude to an underlying contractual relationship.” The carrier attached an exhibit showing Bayani opted out of arbitration, but the request was “subject to the Terms & Conditions of your T-Mobile service.” The T&Cs were “the operative agreement when he contracted for Metro service,” it said. T-Mobile also said the terms’ limitation period “bars most of the claims,” citing McKee v. AT&T. Bayani, relying on the T&Cs to avoid arbitration, "neither challenges the authenticity of the T&Cs nor identifies another supposed contract governing his admittedly contractual relationship with Metro," said the reply. "Whether the Court addresses the T&Cs now or later, Mr. Bayani's claims also fail for many independent pleading deficiencies" and should be dismissed with prejudice, it said.

Joe Hand Productions sued two Florida bars for video piracy of Ultimate Fighting Championships it had exclusive pay-per-view rights for, alleged complaints filed Monday in U.S. District Court for Southern Florida in West Palm Beach. Girafa’s Sports Grill, West Palm Beach, illegally showed the Conor McGregor vs. Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone fight on Jan. 18, 2020 and Amanda Nunes vs. Felicia Spencer UFC match, June 6, 2020, said a complaint (docket 9:23-cv-80869). Kavasutra Kava Bar, North Palm Beach, showed the same Nunes vs. Spencer fight, and Jake Paul vs. Anderson Silva on Oct. 29, 2022, without authorization, said a complaint (docket 9:23-cv-80870). Plaintiff seeks statutory damages of $110,000 and $60,000 per willful violation of the Communications Act.