Zuffa sues The Vinyl Room and two individuals over a UFC Freedom 250 pay-per-view showing

The complaint

Zuffa, LLC d/b/a Ultimate Fighting Championship v. John R. Kihlmire and Kane M. Licari, Individually, and as officers, directors, shareholders, principals, managers and/or members of The Vinyl Room LLC, and The Vinyl Room LLC, No. 7:26-cv-09793 (S.D.N.Y.), is a twelve-page complaint filed November 9, 2026, ECF No. 1. It pleads jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 and 1338(a) and alleges, upon information and belief, that venue is proper because a substantial part of the events occurred in Dutchess County.

The broadcast

Zuffa alleges that it owns the UFC Freedom 250 pay-per-view broadcast of June 14, 2026, including all undercard matches and the entire television broadcast, and that the Certificate of Registration was filed with the Copyright Office on August 24, 2026, as Registration No. PA 2-612-398. The Copyright Office public catalog lists PA0002612398, "UFC Freedom 250: Topuria vs. Gaethje," a motion picture registered August 24, 2026, with a first publication date of June 14, 2026, and Zuffa, LLC dba Ultimate Fighting Championship as claimant.

What it alleges

The complaint alleges, upon information and belief, that John R. Kihlmire and Kane M. Licari were the officers, directors, shareholders, principals, managers and/or members of The Vinyl Room LLC, with supervisory capacity and control over the establishment in Beacon, New York, and that they received a financial benefit from its operations on June 14, 2026. It alleges, upon information and belief, that the defendants, without paying a fee or entering into an agreement with Zuffa or its authorized agent for commercial exhibition, intercepted, received and/or de-scrambled the encrypted signal and exhibited the broadcast at The Vinyl Room willfully and for commercial advantage or private financial gain.

According to the complaint, owners of commercial establishments can gain access to the broadcast by buying it through streaming apps or websites at residential rates, and it alleges, upon information and belief, that the defendants ordered programming intended for private, non-commercial use and displayed it in the establishment, "or by such other means which are unknown to Plaintiffs and known only to Defendants." The complaint alleges that the defendants never obtained a license from Zuffa or its exclusive commercial distributor to publicly exhibit the broadcast.

Counts and relief

Count I alleges willful violation of 47 U.S.C. § 605(a), which the complaint says prohibits the unauthorized reception and publication or use of radio communications. Count II alleges willful violation of 47 U.S.C. § 553, which the complaint says prohibits the unauthorized reception, interception and exhibition of communications service offered over a cable system. Count III alleges willful copyright infringement under 17 U.S.C. § 501(a).

The prayer asks the court to declare that the exhibition violated the Federal Communications Act and was committed willfully and for commercial advantage or private financial gain. It seeks, jointly and severally, statutory penalties of between $1,000 and $10,000 as to each defendant under 47 U.S.C. § 605 and enhanced damages of up to $100,000 for each defendant; statutory penalties of up to $10,000 as to each defendant under 47 U.S.C. § 553 and enhanced damages of up to $50,000; actual damages under 17 U.S.C. § 504(b); statutory penalties of up to $30,000 under § 504(c)(1) and enhanced damages of $150,000 under § 504(c)(2); and attorney's fees, interest and costs under 47 U.S.C. §§ 605(e)(3)(B)(iii) and 553(c)(2)(C) and 17 U.S.C. § 505.

On the docket

On November 9, 2026, the day the complaint was filed, Zuffa also filed a civil cover sheet, a Rule 7.1 corporate disclosure statement, an AO 121 copyright form, and requests for issuance of summons as to each of the three defendants, ECF Nos. 2 through 7.