Opinion ID: 5499
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: HBO's Interpretation

Text: HBO asserts that the closed-circuit right retained by Dynamic Duo only encompasses the right to telecast the fight to paying audiences in commercial establishments, such as theaters, arenas, and bars. Under the Dynamic Duo-HBO contract, HBO claims the exclusive right to telecast the fight to home viewers. Thus, HBO contends that it justifiably interfered with PPV's proposed telecast. In support of HBO's position, two HBO representatives who negotiated the Dynamic DuoHBO contract testified that the term closed circuit, as used in the boxing industry, refers to exhibitions in public locations where people pay an admission fee. The two HBO representatives indicated that they have negotiated several similar telecast contracts with boxing promoters. One of Dynamic Duo's attorneys involved in negotiating the Dynamic Duo-HBO contract agreed with HBO's definition and HBO's position that the Dynamic Duo-HBO contract granted HBO the exclusive right to telecast to home viewers. The Dynamic Duo attorney testified that throughout his career he has represented boxers, boxing promoters, and closed-circuit exhibitors. Additionally, HBO introduced the testimony of two closed-circuit exhibitors, Louis A. Falcigno, owner and president of Momentum Enterprises, and Joseph Hand, Jr., president of Joe Hand Promotions. Both Falcigno and Hand testified that they have obtained closed-circuit rights to every major boxing event since the 1970s, and that they have done business with both Don King and Butch Lewis. Both Falcigno and Hand testified that, in the boxing industry, closed-circuit rights do not include the right to telecast to homes. Furthermore, the vice president of J & J, the company that contracted with PPV, conceded that, in boxing telecast contracts, closed circuit refers to a telecast via satellite or telephone lines into an arena or into a bar, something with substantial seating capacity. In further support of its definition, HBO introduced several newspaper articles that used the term closed circuit to refer to telecasts of boxing events in public locations. See, e.g., Larry Stewart, Fight on Pay-Per-View TV Only, or at a Closed-Circuit Location, L.A. TIMES, Dec. 7, 1989, at C12; Norman Chad, Pay-Per-View Can Drive Closed-Circuit off Screen, WASH. POST, July 2, 1988, at D2; Noel Gunther, Closed-Circuit Heavyweight: Louis Falcigno, Beaming Bouts to America's Fight Fans, N.Y. TIMES, June 19, 1988, at § 3, at 4.2 Moreover, at least one of the encyclopedias on which PPV relies contains a definition consistent with HBO's position. See MCGRAW-HILL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 46 (Closed-circuit television can describe situations where the original television signal is transmitted and distributed to theaters which are equipped with large-screen television projection systems for displaying the received image to the paying audience.).