UFC® SERVES SUBPOENAS ON TWO STREAMING WEBSITES
Jul 23, 2010
(PRESS RELEASE) -- Zuffa, LLC, (“Zuffa”), the parent company of the
Ultimate Fighting Championship® (UFC®), announced today that it has
served subpoenas on two streaming video websites, commanding them
to reveal the identities of users who have uploaded video of live
Pay-Per-View UFC events.
The websites, Justin.tv and Ustream.tv, enable anyone with an Internet connection to broadcast live streaming video to an unlimited audience. Although originally developed to bring user-generated content to a large live audience, these sites have been exploited by some users to broadcast illegally uploaded content, including UFC events.
For example, on January 2, 2010, over 36,000 people watched a live
streaming feed of the UFC 108 Pay-Per-View event that was uploaded
from a single IP address. Less than two months later, on February
21, 2010, that same IP address was used to upload multiple live
streaming feeds of the UFC 110 Pay-Per-View event, which was
watched by over 78,000 non-paying users. This piracy represents a
significant loss of revenue to UFC and their mobile, online, cable
and satellite distribution partners each year.
“I can’t wait to go after the thieves that are stealing our content,” said UFC President Dana White. “This is a fight we will not lose.”
Zuffa is the largest provider of Pay-Per-View content in the world, and delivers exciting matches to fans in over 430 million households across 147 countries and territories. Zuffa encourages the development of new technology to deliver UFC content to licensed online platforms, mobile devices, and gaming systems. However, Zuffa does not condone the use of streaming video or other new technologies to violate intellectual property laws, and it will vigorously protect its copyrighted content against piracy in any medium.
Those who upload live UFC events as free streaming video harm UFC athletes, arena owners, and hard-working Zuffa employees who have transformed the once-obscure sport of mixed martial arts (MMA) into a successful professional sports organization. The UFC brand has created American jobs in the entertainment, fitness, and clothing industries. Zuffa will continue to fight on the cutting edge of copyright law to defend the intellectual property rights that support American economic growth.
For more information, or current UFC event news, visit UFC.com.
Ultimate Fighting Championship® - www.ufc.com Owned and operated by Zuffa, LLC, and headquartered in Las Vegas, Nev., UFC® produces over twelve UFC live Pay-Per-View events annually and 30 live arena events around the world. UFC programming is distributed in the United States on Viacom, Inc.’s Spike TV and on Comcast, Inc.’s Versus network. UFC content is distributed commercially through Joe Hand Promotions in the U.S. and Canadastar in Canada. Globally, UFC programming is broadcast in over 147 countries and territories, reaching 430 million homes worldwide, in 19 different languages. Ancillary businesses now include UFC.com with over 5 million unique visitors per month, the best-selling UFC “Undisputed” videogame franchise distributed by THQ, UFC Gymâ„¢, UFC Fight Club affinity program, UFC Fan Expoâ„¢ festivals, branded apparel, trading cards, articulated action figures and other media including best-selling DVDs and a U.S. bimonthly magazine.
Ultimate Fighting Championship®, Ultimate Fighting®, UFC®, The Ultimate Fighter®, Submission®, As Real As It Gets®, Zuffa®, The Octagonâ„¢ and the eight-sided competition mat and cage design are registered trademarks, registered service marks, trademarks, trade dress and/or service marks owned exclusively by Zuffa, LLC and licensed to its affiliated entities and other licensees in the United States and other jurisdictions. All other marks referenced herein may be the property of Zuffa, LLC, its affiliates or other respective owners.
The websites, Justin.tv and Ustream.tv, enable anyone with an Internet connection to broadcast live streaming video to an unlimited audience. Although originally developed to bring user-generated content to a large live audience, these sites have been exploited by some users to broadcast illegally uploaded content, including UFC events.
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“I can’t wait to go after the thieves that are stealing our content,” said UFC President Dana White. “This is a fight we will not lose.”
Under §512(h) of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, a copyright
owner can obtain a subpoena from a federal court ordering a service
provider to disclose the identity of a subscriber who is allegedly
engaging in infringing activities. The subpoenas served by Zuffa
require Justin.tv and Ustream.tv to disclose information in their
possession that Zuffa can use to identify those who have been
pirating and rebroadcasting recent UFC events online. With this
information in hand, Zuffa will prosecute civil actions against the
individuals who have infringed Zuffa’s copyrights.
Zuffa is the largest provider of Pay-Per-View content in the world, and delivers exciting matches to fans in over 430 million households across 147 countries and territories. Zuffa encourages the development of new technology to deliver UFC content to licensed online platforms, mobile devices, and gaming systems. However, Zuffa does not condone the use of streaming video or other new technologies to violate intellectual property laws, and it will vigorously protect its copyrighted content against piracy in any medium.
Those who upload live UFC events as free streaming video harm UFC athletes, arena owners, and hard-working Zuffa employees who have transformed the once-obscure sport of mixed martial arts (MMA) into a successful professional sports organization. The UFC brand has created American jobs in the entertainment, fitness, and clothing industries. Zuffa will continue to fight on the cutting edge of copyright law to defend the intellectual property rights that support American economic growth.
For more information, or current UFC event news, visit UFC.com.
Ultimate Fighting Championship® - www.ufc.com Owned and operated by Zuffa, LLC, and headquartered in Las Vegas, Nev., UFC® produces over twelve UFC live Pay-Per-View events annually and 30 live arena events around the world. UFC programming is distributed in the United States on Viacom, Inc.’s Spike TV and on Comcast, Inc.’s Versus network. UFC content is distributed commercially through Joe Hand Promotions in the U.S. and Canadastar in Canada. Globally, UFC programming is broadcast in over 147 countries and territories, reaching 430 million homes worldwide, in 19 different languages. Ancillary businesses now include UFC.com with over 5 million unique visitors per month, the best-selling UFC “Undisputed” videogame franchise distributed by THQ, UFC Gymâ„¢, UFC Fight Club affinity program, UFC Fan Expoâ„¢ festivals, branded apparel, trading cards, articulated action figures and other media including best-selling DVDs and a U.S. bimonthly magazine.
Ultimate Fighting Championship®, Ultimate Fighting®, UFC®, The Ultimate Fighter®, Submission®, As Real As It Gets®, Zuffa®, The Octagonâ„¢ and the eight-sided competition mat and cage design are registered trademarks, registered service marks, trademarks, trade dress and/or service marks owned exclusively by Zuffa, LLC and licensed to its affiliated entities and other licensees in the United States and other jurisdictions. All other marks referenced herein may be the property of Zuffa, LLC, its affiliates or other respective owners.
