LAKE CHARLES – A Leesville sports bar is accused of broadcasting a sports match without paying a license fee.
Joe Hand Promotions Inc. of Feasterville, Pennsylvania filed a complaint on Dec. 4 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, Lake Charles Division against Alfred Eugene Wallace, doing business as The Fox Hole Sports Lounge, alleging that the sports bar operator violated the Communications Act.
According to the complaint, the plaintiff alleges that on Jan. 31, 2015, plaintiff held the exclusive commercial distribution rights to the broadcast of Ultimate Fighting Championship 183: Silva v. Diaz. The plaintiff holds Wallace responsible because the defendant allegedly did not contract the plaintiff and pay a fee to obtain the proper license or authorization to broadcast the fight and willfully intercepted and unlawfully transmitted and published the program. As a result of the defendant's alleged unlawful actions, the plaintiff claims it suffered monetary damages.
The plaintiff requests a trial by jury and seeks statutory damages up to $110,000 for willful violation of 47 U.S.C. § 605, or alternatively, statutory damages up to $60,000 for willful violation of 47 U.S.C. § 553, attorney fees, interest, court costs and all other just relief. It is represented by Dorothy L. Tarver of Taggart Morton LLC in New Orleans.
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, Lake Charles Division Case number 2:16-cv-01674