The Las Vegas Sun (H/t Bloody Elbow) reports that Zuffa filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court of Nevada on Friday against a British man, Daniel Wallace, for illegally streaming UFC PPVs over the internet. The UFC has filed a temporary restraining order prohibiting Wallace’s website, livevss.tv (associated with livevss.net), from streaming this Saturday’s UFC 120.
The Complaint alleges that Wallace operates a web site that illegally streams UFC PPVs for free. Wallace’s site makes a profit through the use of “pop up” ads shown throughout the streaming. Zuffa’s lawsuit (obtained via Pacer) claims that Wallace’s web site illegally streamed UFC 119. As evidence, it attached a screen grab as an exhibit to its Complaint.
Although UFC 120 is free in the United States, it will be available on PPV in Australia.
In conjunction with the lawsuit, Zuffa filed an Emergency Temporary Restraining Order and a Motion for Preliminary Injunction to stop the site from illegally streaming this Saturday’s fight card. It is requesting that the domain name registrar shut down the web site prior to Saturday’s UFC 120.
Payout Perspective:
The complaint and request for injunctive is an example of the crackdown vowed by the UFC against internet piracy of its PPVs. The following may seem familiar, it text is shown prior to UFC PPVs:
Warning: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.
Although no criminal violations have been filed as suggested from the warning, the legal action reflects Zuffa’s aggressive legal strategy in enforcing its product. This lawsuit suggests that Zuffa is monitoring web sites that illegally show its content and will exercise its right to sue. In this case, Zuffa is requesting statutory damages up to $150,000 as well as legal costs, attorney fees and further monetary damages.
It is understandable that Zuffa is flexing its legal muscle in order to protect its brand as well as making sure that potential internet streamers (and those that may patronize pirate web sites) know that the UFC is monitoring the web. As a result, Zuffa hopes to deter pirated PPVs.
This is a good strategy by Zuffa. While it will not eliminate this type of piracy from occuring any time soon, it does prove to potential pirates that Zuffa WILL take legal action if they find you.
Wait so if u watch a ufc on someones website u can get introuble 2 or just the person who puts it up on there website?
Just the person who posts the videos or owns the webspace on which they are posted.
you dont get sued immedatley. My site got warnned. Rage-streams.net got warned twice. So yeah. But if you continue then you get sued like rage and other sites