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10 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | AUGUST 5, 2024 Hartford attorney Michael L. Chambers Jr. is the Connecticut counsel for Pennsylvania-based media distribution company Joe Hand Promotions, which has sued dozens of companies in the state for illegally broadcasting Ultimate Fighting Championship events. HBJ PHOTO | STEVE LASCHEVER Copyright Fight UFC's commercial TV distributor has sued more than 60 CT businesses over pay-per-view piracy; financial stakes are high for bars, restaurants and others copyrighted material. It's a widespread problem that threatens the existence of distrib- utors and content creators, said Hartford attorney Michael L. Cham- bers Jr., who filed the suit against Gentlemen's Aroma Cigar & Lounge. Chambers is Joe Hand Promo- tions' Connecticut counsel, but the company has attorneys and private investigators in every U.S. state. "The business has to protect their property," Chambers said. "If they don't do this, and if there's not a deterrent, no one will pay for the fight." Over the last two decades, Joe Hand Promotions has filed 64 lawsuits in Connecticut, mostly against restaurants and bars. Nationally, the company has filed thousands of suits. The suit against Gentlemen's Aroma Cigar & Lounge accuses the business of willfully engaging in wrongful acts to intercept and/or receive the program for free, or at a nominal cost. The cigar lounge sold food and drinks during the broadcast, using the fight to entice patrons, the suit states. The business even adver- tised the UFC event on social media. The lawsuit seeks up to $110,000 in damages for each willful violation of the Communications Act of 1934, along with attorney's fees. Businesses that benefit financially by infringing on others' intellectual property rights face a significant potential penalty. In a February 2023 By Andrew Larson alarson@hartfordbusiness.com O n a Saturday night in 2021, anticipation was high for a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship. The July 10 event — held at the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada, and headlined by former UFC light- weight champions Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor — attracted a full-ca- pacity crowd of more than 20,000. Ticket sales exceeded $15.7 million. In addition, about 1.8 million purchases were made for the pay-per- view broadcast, according to USA Today's MMA Junkie blog. Many viewers purchased the broadcast to watch in the comforts of their home. Restaurants, bars, casinos, gyms and other venues had to purchase commercial sublicenses through UFC's distributor, Pennsylva- nia-based Joe Hand Promotions, in order to show the event to patrons. However, Gentlemen's Aroma Cigar & Lounge in Wethersfield was allegedly not one of them. And now the business is facing legal consequences. According to a July 10 lawsuit filed in federal court, the cigar lounge showed the Poirier-McGregor fight to a crowd without paying for a sublicense from Joe Hand Promotions, which has held UFC's exclusive commercial TV distribution rights since 2001. The cost of a commercial license is determined by a venue's capacity, and is substan- tially higher — ranging from several hundred to several thousand dollars — than the pay-per-view cost for residential customers. Commercial sublicense fees devour part of a venue's would-be profits. As a result, some bars, restaurants and other establishments try to avoid the commercial fee, while reaping the benefits of showing This warning is included on all UFC broadcasts.