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.

Program distributor Joe Hand Promotions reached a final judgment with El Paso establishment SharkDogs Sports Grill and two of its principals for pirating a November 2019 Ultimate Fighting Championship pay-per-view telecast and exhibiting it for its customers without a license, in violation of the Communications Act. Principals Tommy Najar and Dustan Najar agreed to pay Joe Hand $20,000 in statutory and other damages, plus interest, said the judgment (docket 3:22-cv-00382) signed Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone for Western Texas in El Paso.

Plaintiff Joe Hand Promotions held the exclusive commercial distribution rights for a dozen pay-per-view boxing or Ultimate Fighting Championship matches in 2018 in 2019, and is going after Carter’s Sports Bar in Birmingham, Alabama, for pirating the licensed exhibition of the events, in violation of the Telecommunications Act. The bar and its owner, Cordell Carter, using an unauthorized satellite transmission or unauthorized receipt of a cable signal stem, “willfully intercepted” the programs, then unlawfully transmitted to patrons, said the Nov. 21 complaint (docket 2:22-cv-01471) in U.S. District Court for Northern Alabama in Birmingham. Carter could have contracted with Joe Hand and purchased authorization to exhibit each of the programs in his establishment for a fee, it said.

The exclusive U.S. rights holder for closed-circuit broadcasts of boxing and soccer matches went after two New Orleans bars and restaurants in separate actions Tuesday in U.S. District Court in New Orleans for intercepting the matches and displaying them for profit on big-screen TVs without a license. Innovative Sports Management, d/b/a Integrated Sports Media, alleged in one complaint (docket 2:22-cv-03791) that the American Sports Saloon stole the February 2021 boxing match between Saul Alvarez and Avni Yildirim, in violation of the Telecommunications Act. In a separate complaint in the same court (docket 2:22-cv-03792), Finn McCool’s Irish Pub was alleged to have intercepted the November 2021 soccer match between Brazil and Argentina. Both complaints alleged the establishments and their owners acted “willfully and for purposes of direct and/or indirect commercial advantage and/or private financial gain.” Innovative “stands ready to present eye-witness testimony and other evidence supporting all allegations,” said the complaints. Both actions seek statutory damages of up to $10,000 for each violation. Efforts to reach the owners of the two establishments for comment were unsuccessful Wednesday. Tenafly, New Jersey-based Innovative is the same company that went after a slew of bars in three California jurisdictions Oct. 5 and 6 for showing the October 2021 soccer match between Brazil and Colombia without a license (see 2210070021).

Tenafly, New Jersey-based Innovative Sports Management, d/b/a Integrated Sports Media, filed four separate Communications Act complaints Oct. 5 and 6 in three California jurisdictions, alleging a slew of bars and restaurants “intercepted” and displayed the October 2021 soccer match between Brazil and Colombia for which it had the exclusive closed-circuit rights in North America. The match originated via satellite uplink and was subsequently retransmitted to cable systems and satellite companies via satellite signal to Integrated’s lawful sublicensees, said one complaint (docket 2:22-cv-07269) in U.S. District Court in San Jose that typified the others. The match “could only be exhibited in a commercial establishment in California if said establishment was contractually authorized to do so” by Integrated, it said. All the defendants are guilty of the willful and unauthorized interception and display of the match “for purposes of direct and/or indirect commercial advantage and/or private financial gain,” it said. The complaints seek statutory damages of $100,000 for each willful violation of the Communications Act. The various defendants didn't respond to requests for comment.