United States Magistrate Judge Andrew J. Peck last week awarded the National Football League $2.6 million in damages in its copyright infringement action against New York-based satellite carrier PrimeTime 24.

The NFL filed suit in May 1998 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleging that PrimeTime was infringing copyrights held by the League by retransmitting game telecasts from the United States to Canada without authorization.

The district court first ruled in 1999 that PrimeTime 24 had violated the U.S. Copyright Act, and that ruling was affirmed last April by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. These rulings cleared the way for a trial, held in October 2000, limited to determining the amount of damages to be awarded the NFL.

On February 5, 2001, Magistrate Judge Peck handed down his $2.6 million award, finding that PrimeTime 24's conduct in continuing to retransmit game telecasts after initial adverse rulings "clearly demonstrated chutzpah, or in more legal parlance, willfullness."

"We are extremely pleased with Judge Peck’s ruling," said NFL Executive Vice President Jeffrey Pash. "This outcome reaffirms the rights of all copyright holders and should send a clear signal to other potential copyright infringers that the NFL will act decisively to protect its rights under the law. The consequences of such infringement can be extremely costly."