Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight champion Michael Bisping was honored with his own documentary to commemorate his incredible journey through the world of mixed martial arts (MMA). And to help celebrate that achievement, the producers behind “The Count’s” Cinderella story were slapped with a copyright infringement lawsuit by UFC attorneys.
24 counts to be exact, which equates to roughly 19 minutes of footage.
That’s according to a report from subscription-based website Sportico, helpfully passed along by Yahoo! Sports. It appears Score G Productions, named as primary defendant, never bothered to contact the promotion about content licensing. That means any of the footage from Bisping’s UFC fights was used without permission and could be subject to removal and/or compensatory damages.
Bisping has yet to comment.
UFC claims the Bisping documentary borrows “substantial portions of the UFC’s most famous fights,” including footage of Conor McGregor’s knockout victory over then-featherweight champion Jose Aldo. To allow such exceptions under the “fair use” act, attorneys argue, would set a precedent permitting any future documentary to serve as an excuse to rebroadcast UFC fights without authorization.
Judge Gary Klausner will preside over UFC v. Score G in federal court in Los Angeles.