Federal lawsuit accuses Meriden bar of piracy

[Len]

A Pennsylvania-based promotions company has accused 105 Restaurant & Lounge in a federal lawsuit of illegally showing a 2016 mix martial arts fight inside the establishment.

Joe Hand Promotions, Inc., states in the lawsuit, filed last week in U.S. District Court in New Haven, that 105 Restaurant & Lounge violated federal piracy laws when it showed an Ultimate Fighting Championship pay-per-view event to customers without paying the required fee. 

The lawsuit requests the judge impose maximum damages — either $60,000 or $110,000, depending on whether the offense would be considered cable or satellite piracy —, plus attorney costs, legal fees, and “such other and further relief to which plaintiff may be entitled.” 

A phone number for Manuel Medeiros, owner of the now defunct 105 Restaurant & Lounge, was not in service Wednesday. 

Michael Chambers, the attorney who filed the lawsuit on behalf of Joe Hand Promotions, differed a request for comment to the company. The company didn’t respond to a request for comment Wednesday afternoon. 

According to the lawsuit, Joe Hand Promotions, based in Feasterville, Pennsylvania, has held exclusive commercial distribution rights for UFC, including its pay-per-view events, since 2001. 

Bars, restaurants, and other commercial establishments are allowed to show pay-per-view events to customers, but only for a fee. That fee is also typically higher than the fee individuals must pay to watch the same events from a private residence. 

The lawsuit accuses 105 Restaurant & Lounge of showing UFC 205, which occurred in November 2016, without paying the fee to Joe Hand Promotions. 

“By unauthorized satellite transmission or, alternatively, by unauthorized receipt over a cable system, (the restaurant) willfully intercepted or received the interstate communication” of the fight “or assisted in such actions,” the lawsuit states. UFC President Dana White called that event the “biggest and baddest (fight) card” in UFC history, and the headline fight, a championship bout, featured Conor McGregor and Eddie Alvarez.

This is the second lawsuit filed against the owners of 105 Restaurant & Lounge, which had been located at 105 Colony St. A November complaint accuses the owners of negligence in connection with a March shooting inside the restaurant. 

The victim claims in the lawsuit that he suffered a gunshot wound to the neck, damage to his lungs, fractured ribs, and paralysis of his right hand. 

The business is no longer open. It was operating under a provisional liquor permit at the time of the March shooting, but the owners withdrew an application for a state liquor permit a week after the incident. 

In November, the Planning Commission voted to deny an application to reclassify the business from a restaurant to a bar. The reclassification would have allowed the city to sign off on a liquor permit application with the state. 

The application lacked the signature of the building’s owner, however. The commission voted to deny the application without prejudice, which would allow Medeiros to reapply in the future.