A boxing match between high-profile Australian boxers Anthony Mundine and Danny Green took place last Friday, a final chapter in their long-running rivalry.
One fan, Darren Sharpe, took matters into his own hands. Using a function available to all Facebook users, he broadcast the fight from his phone to "a few friends who couldn't afford the event".
His Facebook Live stream was rapidly shared, and at one point more than 100,000 people were watching the feed.
It did not go unnoticed by Foxtel. A representative for the company phoned Mr Sharpe asking him to end his stream. The call was also broadcast live.
Mr Sharpe is heard saying: "I'm not doing anything wrong, mate. What can you do to me?"
The representative replies: "It's a criminal offence against the Copyright Act, mate. We've got technical protection methods inside the box so exactly this thing can't happen."Foxtel quickly threatened him with legal action. Mr Sharpe then started a fundraising page for a possible defence, drawing some donations.
Days later, Foxtel said it would "educate" Mr Sharpe about copyright, rather than take legal action. It coincided with an apology by Mr Sharpe on his Facebook page.
"I know that this was illegal and the wrong thing to do," he wrote on Thursday. "Foxtel and the event promoters invested hundreds of thousands of dollars to produce the fight and to broadcast it."
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