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UFC Pay per View

Asked over 3 years ago - Peachtree City, GA

Can a restaurant be sued by the company that owns the license, for ordering a pay per view UFC fight and playing it at the business? Admission was not charged for coming to watch the fight. The only profit made was off the food that customers ordered.

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And what it was a private event, closed to the public
or if the restaurant was closed, only shown to friends and family
it just seems like the key word is public viewing

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Attorney answers (2)

Oscar Michelen

Reputation Level 15

Answered over 3 years ago. Intellectual Property Law Attorney in New York, NY.

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Yes. PPV companies charge bars/restaurants money based on the fire capcaity for the location for PPV events. So if the bar can hold 250 people, a PPV salesperson will contact the bar and see if they are interested in showing the event and if they are the PPV company normally gets $10-$15 per person times the capacity. So in our example if it was 10 a person, the PPV fee to the bar would be $2,500.00.

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Jefferson Hampton Coulter II

Reputation Level 8

Answered over 3 years ago. Intellectual Property Law Attorney in Seattle, WA.

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Whenever you display a program or play music at a restaurant or other venue open to the public, there is going to be the issue of a license fee. The easiest way to deal with that is to contact ASCAP about licensing rights to display the content at your venue.

Usually, when you watch a program, PPV, or listen to music, its assumed that its for personal and/or in-home use. Anything in a public arena (to attract paying clients, say to watch Ultimate Fighting) would be a commercial use and outside of the scope of the license you get for in-home viewing.

ASCAP cable licensing

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