The livestream saga that breached copyright laws
Boxing is a sport loved by many across Australia and the world. Sharing that love would only be natural, right? However, this love of sharing has been counter-punched with a lawsuit for two boxing fans.
On 3 February 2017, Anthony Mundine v Danny Green weren’t the only ones throwing punches. Two Australian men, Brett Hevers and Darren Sharpe, livestreamed the grudge match on Facebook. This was obviously a suckerpunch to Foxtel's gut, who were charging its customers a fee of almost $60 to view the fight. Over 130,000 people tuned into the fight free on one of the men’s livestreams.
In a statement issued by Foxtel, the livestream by the men is considered “theft” and the media giant confirmed that it would be taking legal action against the two men. If found guilty, the pair could face fines of up to $60,000 or imprisonment up to 5 years.
The accusation was that the livestreamers breached copyright laws in Australia by illegally streaming paid content for free to others, despite a phone call from Foxtel’s representatives to cease the stream immediately. Shortly after the phone call, Foxtel “knocked out” the men’s services, as they were breaching their terms of use. Both men are yet to have their subscriptions reinstated.
Mr Hevers and Mr Sharpe have now issued public apologies to Foxtel via their Facebook pages and Foxtel has withdrawn its threat to take legal action. Over $60,000 raised through the pair's GoFundMe Page for legal fees has been donated to charity.
Make sure you are aware of your rights when streaming online content. If you feel that you have been wrongly targeted for copyright infringement, or wish to know more about this issue, please contact us on 02 8917 8700.