Showtime, HBO and the promotional outfits for both Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao have "filed a joint lawsuit that demands significant relief from alleged copyright infringement" ahead of Saturday's fight, according to Eriq Gardner of the HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. The nets yesterday "threw their punches in California federal court against 'John Doe 1 d/b/a boxinghd.net,' 'John Doe 2 d/b/a sportship.org' and seven other anonymous defendants." Showtime and HBO are "attacking a couple of websites who are said to be advertising 'an unauthorized live Internet stream of the Coverage in California and elsewhere.'" The lawsuit "points out that boxinghd.net has a page that is titled 'Watch Mayweather vs. Pacquiao Online Free,' and for users that click, they're eventually taken to a splash page with a countdown clock and an image of Mayweather and Pacquiao." Showtime and HBO are "asking for a restraining order against those directly involved in 'anticipated' copyright infringement." The plaintiffs "want actual damages, profits and statutory damages and even want the court to award them the costs of bringing the lawsuit and conducting the investigation" for "something that hasn't yet happened" (HOLLYWOODREPORTER.com, 4/28).
GOING 15 ROUNDS: In Boston, Ron Borges notes ESPN's "OTL" on Sunday "did a '60 Minutes got ya’-style interview with Nevada State Athletic Commissioner Pat Lundvall that was patently unfair, repeatedly asking her why she and her colleagues approved a boxing license for Mayweather despite his past problems." But the same network that "rehashed Mayweather’s sad past is the one televising his promotional company’s fight card Friday night from Las Vegas and paying him to do so." It is the network that is "doing 'SportsCenter,' the anchor of its daily broadcasts, live from Las Vegas this week, too." Borges: "It’s the same network whose latest issue of ESPN the Magazine has a lengthy cover story on, guess who?" (BOSTON HERALD, 4/29).
A UNIQUE RELATIONSHIP: In DC, Rick Maese profiles Manila Bulletin reporter Nick Giongco, who has been "covering Pacquiao's fights for nearly two decades." Giongco will "crank out story after story," and as fight week unfolds, the workload "will only increase." Giongco "expects to file at least six stories on Friday, probably just as many the night of the fight and then six or so more the day after, too." He has made multiple trips to the U.S. to "document Pacquiao's training camp" in L.A., as the fighter "always seems to fit Giongco into his busy schedule." They have a "unique reporter-athlete relationship," as Giongco "considers the fighter a friend and even asked Pacquiao to serve as godfather to his daughter" (WASHINGTON POST, 4/29).
