Don't point your cameraphone at the cage fighters, ma.
Livestreaming startup Ustream says it is co-operating with a demand from the Ultimate Fighting Championship for information on users who have livestreamed UFC events.
UFC's parent company Zuffa subpoenaed both Ustream and Justin.tv last week, claiming that unlicensed livestreams of its pay-per-view events are costing it millions in revenue.
"Ustream was subpoenaed by UFC via Zuffa earlier this year to provide identifiable information on certain broadcasters, which Ustream fully complied with in a timely manner," the startup tells NewTeeVee.
"Ustream continues to work cohesively with our premium content partners to prevent piracy, including UFC to legally stream officially-sanctioned UFC events."
The increasing popularity of livestreaming services is providing a big headache for organisations like Zuffa, who rely on pay-per-view revenues. More people now have access to services like Ustream via apps on their smartphones.
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The company claims that one livestream from a fan at one of its PPV events in February was watched by more than 78,000 people for free, while another was watched by more than 36,000 people.
Zuffa is unlikely to be the last sports rightsholder to focus its legal energies on the livestreaming startups, especially as the rights to broadcast events online become more lucrative.
