Taste of the City Lounge, in Brooklyn, showed the Gervonta Davis vs. Hector Luis Garcia Championship Fight on Jan. 7 without authorization and for financial gain, said a complaint (docket 1:23-cv-04006) Wednesday in U.S. District Court for Eastern New York in Brooklyn. Plaintiff G&G Closed Circuit Events had exclusive nationwide commercial distribution rights to the event, it said. G&G claims violations of Title 47 of the Communications Act and seeks total statutory damages of $170,000, plus legal costs.

In separate filings, two sporting events broadcast rights holders filed suits Thursday against bars for Communications Act Title 47 violations. Innovative Sports Management sued (docket 1:23-cv-02335) La Brasa Rustica, Duluth, Georgia, in U.S. District Court for Northern Georgia in Atlanta for showing the Equador vs. Paraguay soccer match March 24, 2022, without its authorization. G&G Closed Circuit Events alleged (docket 2:23-cv-04058) Thursday in U.S. District Court for Central California in Los Angeles that Mr. BBQ Grill, Pico Rivera, California, pirated the Deontay Wilder vs. Robert Helenius Championship Fight Oct. 15 without a sublicense. In addition to Title 47 violations, G&G claims conversion and violation of the California Business and Professions Code section 17200. Plaintiffs seek statutory damages and recovery of attorneys’ fees and legal costs.

The Londoner Pub, Addison, Texas, showed three soccer matches March 29, 2022, without authorization, alleged broadcast rights licensee Innovative Sports Management Tuesday in a cable piracy lawsuit (docket 3:23-cv-01187) in U.S. District Court for Northern Texas in Dallas. The bar showed Peru vs. Paraguay, Colombia vs. Venezuela and Chile vs. Uruguay matches, including commentary before and after the games, with the intent to secure a commercial advantage and financial gain, said the rightsholder. The company seeks statutory damages of $10,000, $50,000 and $100,000 per violation.

U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman for Western Texas in Austin signed a final default judgment Wednesday (docket 1:22-cv-01083) awarding content distributor Joe Hand Promotions $60,000 in damages against San Marcos, Texas, bar and restaurant One Time Tavern and its owners. Joe Hand sued the tavern Oct. 25, alleging it pirated for commercial gain the November 2019 telecast of the Ultimate Fighting Championship mixed martial arts match between Jorge Masvidal and Nate Diaz. Pitman also awarded Joe Hand $2,550 in attorneys’ fees, $839 in court costs and post-judgment interest at an annual rate of 4.75%, said the judgment. The judge denied Joe Hand’s request for damages of up to $100,000 for the tavern’s willful violation of Section 605 of the Communications Act.

Dos Amigos restaurant, Middletown, New York, pirated the Canelo Alvarez vs. Caleb Plant middleweight championship fight Nov. 6, 2021, said G&G Closed Circuits Events, which had exclusive nationwide commercial distribution rights to the event, in a Tuesday complaint (docket 7:23-cv-03868) in U.S. District Court for Southern New York in White Plains. G&G claims two violations of the Communications Act and seeks statutory damages of $110,000 for unauthorized reception and exhibition of the fight and $60,000 for unauthorized receipt of programming over a cable system, plus attorneys’ fees and legal costs.

Two Arizona bars pirated a boxing match for which Joe Hand Promotions had exclusive commercial distribution rights, alleged the plaintiff in filings in U.S. District Court for Arizona in Phoenix Wednesday. El Pueblo Restaurant, Phoenix, illegally showed the Canelo Alvarez vs. Dmitry Bivol match on May 7, 2022, said the complaint (docket 2:23-cv-00762), and El Rodeo Restaurant & Cantina also showed the match without authorization, said Joe Hand's complaint (docket 2:23-cv-00766) against the Payson, Arizona, bar. The video distributor seeks statutory damages of up to $110,000 for each willful Communications Act Section 605 violation for unauthorized publication or use of communications, or $60,000 for each willful violation of Section 553, unauthorized reception of cable service. The plaintiff also seeks attorneys’ fees and legal costs.

The DOJ and defendant Central Telecom (CTLD) filed a joint motion (docket 1:23-cv-00259) Wednesday for entry of a consent judgment in U.S. District Court for Colorado in Denver. The proposed consent judgment says 1) CTLD agrees to strict compliance terms, including preparing a compliance plan with manual and training; 2) CTLD agrees to cease all outbound telemarketing activity; 3) CTLD agrees to provide full refunds to consumers who complained in the case; 4) CTLD agrees to pay a $40,000 penalty; and 5) DOJ agrees to resolve the claims in its complaint, which will be dismissed with prejudice. DOJ sued CTLD in January for improperly changing the preferred long distance carriers of consumers and for charging consumers directly, or through their local telephone companies, for long distance service that they never authorized. DOJ cited CTLD for “slamming, cramming, and unclear and insufficiently specific billing practices.” DOJ had a similar settlement (2:23-cv-00161) with Consumer Telcom in March in U.S. District Court for Nevada in Las Vegas.

Closed-circuit events distributor G&G filed consecutively numbered Communications Act complaints Tuesday in U.S. District Court for Northern Texas, alleging two Dallas-area restaurants stole the broadcast feeds of two boxing events in 2020 and 2021 and showed them to customers for commercial profit. G&G alleges the Dallas establishment J. Whiskey’s Sports Bar Grill showed the December 2020 Saul Alvarez vs. Callum Smith championship fight program without a license (docket 3:23-cv-00556), and the Arlington, Texas, Tex-Mex eatery El Tenampa did the same with the May 2021 Saul Alvarez vs. Billy Joe Saunders event (docket 3:23-cv-00557). The closed-circuit broadcasts weren’t intended “for the use of the general public,” said both complaints. In Texas, they could be exhibited in a commercial establishment only if that establishment were “contractually authorized to do so” by G&G, they said. The transmission of the events originated via satellite and was scrambled, they said. The establishments that contracted with G&G were provided “with the electronic decoding capability and/or satellite coordinates necessary to receive the signal,” the complaints said. Both complaints seek statutory damages up to $100,000 for each willful violation of the Communications Act. Neither establishment commented Wednesday.

Aso Rock Restaurant and Lounge, McKinney, Texas, illegally showed the Manny Pacquiao vs. Yordenis Ugas boxing match in August 2021, alleged distribution rights holder G&G Closed Circuit Events in a Monday piracy complaint (docket 3:23-cv-00507) in U.S. District Court for Northern Texas in Dallas. The restaurant didn’t contract with G&G to obtain rights to broadcast the event, the complaint said. G&G asserts the restaurant violated the Communications Act and seeks statutory damages of over $100,000, plus reasonable attorneys’ fees, legal costs and pre- and post-judgment interest.

An Oklahoma City restaurant showed the Aug. 21, 2021, Manny Pacquiao vs. Yordenis Ugas World Boxing Association fight without authorization, alleged exclusive nationwide TV rights holder G&G Closed Circuit Events in a complaint Tuesday (docket 5:23-cv-00190) in U.S. District Court for Western Oklahoma in Oklahoma City. G&G claimed violation of the Communications Act and seeks attorneys’ fees and costs, plus statutory damages of $110,000 and $60,000 for each willful violation, the complaint said.