G and G Closed Circuit Events v. Zihao Liu

BACKGROUND

G & G buys commercial distribution rights from entertainment producers and then sublicenses the rights to display televised sports and entertainment programs at commercial establishments such as bars, clubs, and restaurants. Here, G & G purchased exclusive commercial distribution rights to a televised boxing match (the “fight”) and charged businesses between $2,800 and $14,000 for a sublicense. Wave Hookah (“Wave”), a hookah lounge in Van Nuys, California, displayed the fight to its customers on a September evening in 2018. Rather than sublicensing the fight from G & G, a Wave employee purchased it from digital media provider Flipps Media, Inc., for $84.99, and displayed the fight to guests on a laptop “via the [I]nternet.” G & G sued Wave under §§ 553 and 605, alleging violations of those statutes’ prohibitions on signal piracy. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of Wave, finding that §§ 553 and 605 did not regulate streaming over the Internet.

We do not reach this interesting and complicated question because the familiar summary judgment standard counsels upholding summary judgment on alternate grounds. See Nissan Fire & Marine Ins. Co. v. Fritz…