Online Streaming of UFC Content May Soon Become Felony

The UFC and parent company, Zuffa,  has long sought an answer to the illegal streaming of their premium content such as their PPV events or past fights. Now, with a recent proposal created in a the wake of the failure to pass SOPA, the UFC may just get their wish of implementing the strictest of punishments to those who attempt to stream their content online.

The Washington Post put out a story recently, highlighting the new proposal and the relevance of a law like this being passed in the new age of internet content:

You probably remember the online outrage over the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) copyright enforcement proposal. Last week, the Department of Commerce’s Internet Policy Task Force released a report on digital copyright policy that endorsed one piece of the controversial proposal: making the streaming of copyrighted works a felony.

As it stands now, streaming a copyrighted work over the Internet is considered a violation of the public performance right. The violation is only punishable as a misdemeanor, rather than the felony charges that accompany the reproduction and distribution of copyrighted material. 

The UFC is widely remembered for strongly backing the failed 2012 bill, SOPA, citing just a fraction of the overall bill as the means to backing the bill through to its inclusion in to law.

The Commerce Department report urges strong penalties on those who mean to break these proposed laws:

[a]dopting the same range of penalties for criminal streaming of copyrighted works to the public as now exists for criminal reproduction and distribution,”

Now, with renewed hope, the UFC can crack down on those it views as detriments to the overall growth company. 

This would mean that a felony offense can be placed on those who choose not to spend $45 on a PPV event ($55 in high-definition) and could mean serious jail time or fines.

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