Video-sharing platform Triller is threatening to track down boxing fans who illegally streamed the 17 April fight between Jake Paul and Ben Askren, saying it would pursue them with a maximum penalty of $150,000 (£108,000) per illegal stream unless they pay the original $49.99 (£36) cost before 1 June.
The company told Reuters there were more than two million illegal streams of the Triller Fight Club bout last month.
It said it would go after individuals for the maximum penalty of $150,000 'per person per instance' unless they 'do the right thing and pay before the deadline'.
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Matt St. Claire, Triller's Head of Piracy, said: "VPNs all have to comply and turn over the actual IP addresses of each person who stole the fight in discovery.
"We will be able to identify each and every person, VPN or not, as each stream has a unique fingerprint embedded in the content."
St. Claire added: "Triller will pursue the full $150,000 penalty per person per instance for anyone who doesn't do the right thing and pay before the deadline."
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Triller said it had filed legal action in the US District Court of Central California against the owners of the H3Podcast which it claims pirated the event, along with a dozen other sites that allegedly restreamed and profited from as many as hundreds of thousands of users each.
The company has now set up a website for those who want to pay the amount before the deadline next month.
Above an online form for people to fill out, a message reads: "On April 23, 2021 Triller Fight Club filed suit in the United States District Court for the Central District of California against certain parties who participated in the unlawful sale, distribution, and/or viewing of the April 17, 2021 pay per view event known as Triller Fight Club: Jake Paul vs. Ben Askren.
"Under U.S. Copyright Law, each of those parties may be liable for up to $150,000 in fines, penalties and damages for each occurrence of their unlawful acts.
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"For a limited time ending June 01, 2021, those individuals who unlawfully viewed or displayed the event but were not otherwise involved in its illegal sale or distribution are eligible to receive a one-time settlement and release for their unlawful acts, subject to providing the information requested below and making payment in full of US$49.99 via this portal."
St. Claire added: "The fines are calculated at $150,000 per instance, so for H3 and other sites who rebroadcast the event to many people, the (potential) damages are large.
"We are taking this position because it is outright theft. It is no different than walking into a store and stealing a video game off the shelf.
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"In the case of the offending sites, it's worse because they also then resold it to many people, illegally profiting from work they do not own."
LADbible has reached out to H3 Podcast for comment.
Featured Image Credit: PA
Topics: SPORT, Entertainment, Jake Paul