Record labels sue Verizon for supplying copyright infringers
Three dozen record labels are suing the US network operator Verizon, claiming that it is doing too little against copyright infringers among its customers.
(Image: Daniel AJ Sokolov)
It appears that valuable music recordings can still be downloaded free of charge via BitTorrent, according to a US lawsuit filed by around three dozen record companies against Verizon. They accuse the network operator of failing to respond appropriately to copyright complaints from rights holders against Internet users. The plaintiffs want Verizon to shut down the Internet access of the offenders; because this has not happened, Verizon should now pay around 2.6 billion dollars, plus interest and legal costs, they claim.
The plaintiffs include Universal, Capital, Atlantic, Elektra, Warner Music and Sony Music. They claim to have commissioned a specialized company to monitor file sharing. This company then sent Verizon more than 340,000 copyright complaints. In each case, the IP address of the accused subscriber was named. More than 20 complaints had been submitted for thousands of IP addresses, over 500 connections had been targeted at least 100 times by the rights holders; the commissioned company had even sent more than 2,000 complaints for three IP addresses.
However, according to the accusation, Verizon did not kick out these customers. Verizon is deriving "direct financial benefits" from this, especially as the accused customers pay for their Internet connections. In addition, Verizon is saving money by not taking effective action against repeat infringers. The record labels apparently assume that the same connection owner is always behind the IP addresses. With the lawsuit, the record labels want to hold Verizon liable either for contributions to copyright infringement (contributory infringement) or vicariously liable for its infringing customers (vicarious infringement). In either case, US law provides for liquidated damages of up to 150,000 US dollars per infringement.
List has over 400 pages
The plaintiffs have submitted to the court an (expressly incomplete) list of music recordings that Verizon customers are alleged to have illegally copied using BitTorrent. The list exceeds 400 pages long. The lawsuit expressly refers only to copyright infringements that occurred after the first complaint regarding the respective IP address in the Verizon network.
US providers are not subject to any legal obligation to disconnect suspected customers from the Internet after a certain number of complaints. However, some Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have included corresponding clauses in their contractual conditions.
The record labels are particularly offended by Verizon's approach to the issue. The network operator has set up its own portal through which rights holders can automatically submit their copyright complaints against Verizon customers. Verizon forwards these to the affected subscribers. However, Verizon charges fees for the use of this portal and demands that rights holders sign a release of liability for Verizon and keep the terms of use secret. Rights holders who do not accept this can also submit their complaints by e-mail, but Verizon does not process these e-mails, according to the allegation.
Proceedings against Cox continue
heise online has invited Verizon to comment. The case is called UMG Recordings et al. v Verizon et al. and is pending in the US Federal District Court for Southern New York under case number 24-cv-05285. The defendants are both Verizon's mobile division, with around 145 million lines, and its fixed-line division, with around eleven million broadband lines.
In 2021, a jury in the US state of Virginia ordered the US provider Cox to pay one billion dollars in damages for copyright infringements by its customers(Sony Music et al. v Cox Communications et al., US Federal District Court for Eastern Virginia, case no. 1:18-cv-00950). However, the Federal Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled in February that this amount was unreasonable (Case No. 22-1451); the Federal District Court is to determine a new, lower amount. New York is not in the Fourth Circuit, but in the Second Circuit.
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