J & J Sports Productions, Inc. v. Navarro

229 F. Supp. 3d 793, 2017 WL 347448, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9464
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Indiana
DecidedJanuary 24, 2017
DocketCause No. 1:15-CV-257
StatusPublished

This text of 229 F. Supp. 3d 793 (J & J Sports Productions, Inc. v. Navarro) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Indiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
J & J Sports Productions, Inc. v. Navarro, 229 F. Supp. 3d 793, 2017 WL 347448, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9464 (N.D. Ind. 2017).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

William C. Lee, Judge, United States District Court Northern District of Indiana

This matter is before the Court on the motion for summary judgment filed by Plaintiff J & J Sports Productions, Inc., on November 21, 2016 (docket entry 17). Defendants Leonor and Sergio Navarro, d/b/a La Santa Anita Family Grill, filed a response in opposition to the motion on December 13 (DE 19)1 and J & J Sports filed a reply brief on December 16 (DE 21). For the reasons set forth below, the motion is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part. The Clerk of the Court is directed to enter judgment in favor of the Plaintiff and against the Defendants in the amount of $4,725.75, consisting of statutory damages of $3,200.00 and attorney’s fees and costs in the amount of $1,525.75. The motion is DENIED as to the Plaintiffs claim for enhanced damages, conversion, and punitive damages, and those claims are DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.

BACKGROUND

J & J Sports is a California corporation that owns the licensing rights to satellite and cable broadcasts of sporting events, including professional boxing matches. J & J Sports contracts with entities across the country (including restaurants and sports bars and the like) to permit those entities to broadcast the fight in their establishments. The establishment then receives the broadcast signal and permission to exhibit the broadcast to its patrons. It is common knowledge that individuals and businesses often intercept satellite and cable signals in order to view a broadcast without paying for it.2 J & J Sports alleges that the Defendants did just that on September 14, 2013, by intercepting its signal and broadcasting a televised light middle[796]*796weight championship match between Floyd Mayweather, Jr., and Saul Alvarez in their establishment known as La Santa Anita Family Grill. Complaint, p. 4.3 J & J Sports alleges that “on September 14, 2013 (the night of the Program at issue herein ...), Defendants Leonor Navarro and Sergio Navarro specifically directed the employees of La Santa Anita Family Grill to unlawfully intercept and broadcast Plaintiffs Program at La Santa Anita ... or that the actions of the employees ... are directly imputable to Defendants Leonor Navarro and Sergio Navarro by virtue of their acknowledged responsibility for the actions of La Santa Anita[.]” Id., p. 3. J & J Sports contends that “[without the authorization of Plaintiff, Defendant[s] unlawfully intercepted and exhibited and divulged the Program at Defendants’ commercial establishment La Santa Anita Family Grill[.]” Plaintiffs Memorandum in Support of Motion for Summary Judgment (DE 18), p. 1.

At first glance, it might seem odd that a one-time “pirating” of a televised boxing match by a small bar or restaurant would be the subject of a federal lawsuit, let alone a lawsuit in which the Plaintiff seeks more than $110,000 in damages from that small establishment. The problem for the Defendants is that pirating a broadcast signal violates 47 U.S.C. §§ 553 and 605 of the Federal Communications Act, commonly referred to as the “piracy statutes.” Complaint, pp. 4-6. According to J & J Sports, this illegal pirating of broadcasts has a direct and substantial impact on the company’s bottom line. See Gagliardi Affidavit, p. 5, ¶ 12 (“We at J & J Sports ... believe that the persistent signal piracy of our programming costs our company, our customers, and their communities, millions of dollars annually ... for such unlawful interception and exhibition by the commercial signal pirates.”). Therefore, J & J Sports employs “auditors” who are paid to go to various establishments suspected of pirating broadcast signals to see first-hand what is going on (“piracy spies,” of a sort). In this case, James A. Berndt served in this capacity and went to La Santa Anita on the night of the fight, observed part of the pirated broadcast, and reported his findings to J & J Sports. Plaintiffs Memorandum, Affidavit of James A. Berndt (DE 21-2). Berndt reported that “on Saturday, September 14, 2013, at approximately 10:30 p.m.... I ... entered [La Santa Anita and] observed approximately 6-8 tables filled about half capacity with a crowd of primarily Hispanic patrons.... I observed one (1) television on the north wall of the restaurant: an approximately 40‘ (LG brand) flat-screen. The television was displaying” the boxing match licensed to J & J Sports. Id., p. 1. Berndt reported that “[t]he [seating] capacity of this estab[797]*797lishment is approximately 30 people. During my time in this location, I estimated the number of patrons as between 12 and 15[.]” Id., p. 2. Based on these facts, J & J Sports filed this suit against the Defendants seeking damages for the illegal pirating of J & J Sports’ broadcast signal.

SUMMARY JUDGMENT STANDARD

Summary judgment is appropriate when the record shows that there is “no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c); Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). Disputes concerning material facts are genuine where the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the non-moving party.Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). In deciding whether genuine issues of material fact exist, the court construes all facts in a light most favorable to the non-moving party and draws all reasonable inferences in favor of the non-moving party. See id. at 255, 106 S.Ct. 2505. However, neither the “mere existence of some alleged factual dispute between the parties,” id., 477 U.S. at 247, 106 S.Ct. 2505, nor the existence of “some metaphysical doubt as to the material facts,” Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 586, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986), will defeat a motion for summary judgment. Michas v. Health Cost Controls of Ill., Inc., 209 F.3d 687, 692 (7th Cir. 2000).

Summary judgment is not a substitute for a trial on the merits nor is it a vehicle for resolving factual disputes. Waldridge v. Am. Hoechst Corp., 24 F.3d 918, 920 (7th Cir. 1994). Therefore, after drawing all reasonable inferences from the facts in favor of the non-movant, if genuine doubts remain and a reasonable fact-finder could find for the party opposing the motion, summary judgment is inappropriate. See Shields Enterprises, Inc. v. First Chicago Corp., 975 F.2d 1290, 1294 (7th Cir. 1992); Wolf v. City of Fitchburg,

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Bluebook (online)
229 F. Supp. 3d 793, 2017 WL 347448, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9464, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/j-j-sports-productions-inc-v-navarro-innd-2017.