Jake Paul vs. Ben Askren promised to be one of the premier pay-per-view boxing matches of 2021.
Unfortunately for the millions who tuned in, the fight ended with a whimper when Askren was knocked out in the first round. And in even worse news for pay-per-view promoter Triller, many of those millions watched via free (and allegedly illegal) online streaming services.
Triller promised vengeance, filing a claim in Federal District Court in California in April 2021 against FilmDaily.co and 10 other sites and services that allegedly pirated the fight. Triller brought causes of action for 1) willful copyright infringement for distributing, uploading, copying, and publicly displaying the fight, for 2) violations of the Federal Communications Act for interception and misusing a satellite broadcast, and for 3) vicarious copyright infringement for the infringing acts of those who caught the fight on FilmDaily.co.
Triller sought $100 million in damages against the infringing entities.
The suit did not go well.
Just a few weeks after filing, Triller failed to prove that FilmDaily.co acted jointly with any of the other entities named in the suit, and all 10 of the co-defendants were severed from the case, leaving FilmDaily.co as the sole defendant. Then, after Triller failed to serve FilmDaily within 90 days of filing, the entire case was dismissed in August.
But Triller was not ready to throw in the towel. It soon filed a second suit against FilmDaily.co and its purported operator, Frances Levi.
Unfortunately for Triller, it went no better than the first.
Triller’s claims amounted to allegations that FilmDaily.co and Levi made posts on Reddit with links reading “Click to Watch Paul vs Askren Live Free”. But Triller failed to make any claim that the defendants actually streamed the fight on their platform, providing no URL where the fight was aired or even a screenshot of the defendant’s site streaming the contest. As a result, Triller failed to make even a prime facie case against FilmDaily.co and Levi.
Triller also proved unable to track Levi down, failing to serve him by the November 2021 deadline. Triller was granted an extension to serve Levi by February 9, 2022, but again failed to do so. Instead, Triller dismissed its own case, ending its $100 million bid against FilmDaily.co without so much as a penny to show for it.
Thus far, Triller’s attempt to make streaming sites pay for allegedly infringing its pay-for-view content has failed miserably.
Time will tell if Triller or other pay-for-view providers can find a way to gain traction against illegal streamers of their content. But so far, their fight is going little better than Ben Askren’.
If you are in need of legal assistance for copyright infringement, contact The Myers Law Group to have a copyright attorney guide you through the process. We are available for a no-obligation consultation.