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Caudill, David S. --- "Emerging rights in live spectacles and other ephemera" [2017] ELECD 296; in Richardson, Megan; Ricketson, Sam (eds), "Research Handbook on Intellectual Property in Media and Entertainment" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2017) 47

Book Title: Research Handbook on Intellectual Property in Media and Entertainment

Editor(s): Richardson, Megan; Ricketson, Sam

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781784710781

Section: Chapter 2

Section Title: Emerging rights in live spectacles and other ephemera

Author(s): Caudill, David S.

Number of pages: 17

Abstract/Description:

‘Law lags science; it does not lead it.’ Chief Judge Posner in Rosen v Ciba-Geigy Corporation. One of the most highly anticipated sports events of recent years was the boxing match, held in May 2015 in Las Vegas, between Floyd Mayweather Jr and Manny Pacquiao. Those boxing fans who could not afford tickets to the fight – the cheapest tickets, with a printed face price of US$1,500, were sometimes sold on the open market for over US$5,000– could pay Showtime or HBO US$89.95–99.95 to watch. Some, however, ‘found a cheaper way to watch the historic bout. As in free. Thousands tuned into live streams broadcast by spectators at the MGM Grand Garden Arena and those watching at home on television. Many used relatively new smartphone apps such as Periscope and Meerkat, which allow a user to point, shoot and stream to the world …’ While the cable companies ‘netted a record $400 million in domestic pay-per-view revenue’, the question is how much they lost – ‘more than 10,000 people tuned in on one Periscope feed’. Producers of sports events can file copyright takedown requests against an app like Periscope, and even take legal action against those who stream from home – a potential copyright violation – and from the venue – a potential breach of contract claim. Their efforts, however, will only be the latest chapter in the history of free-riders – a chapter which will also quickly pass into that history.