On Friday, major record labels initiated legal action against Verizon, accusing the Internet service provider of violating copyright laws by continuing to offer services to users allegedly involved in music piracy. In the complaint filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, companies like Universal, Sony, and Warner allege that Verizon “knowingly provides its high-speed service to a massive community of online pirates.”
According to the labels, they have sent over 340,000 copyright infringement notices to Verizon since early 2020. These notices reportedly identified specific subscribers participating in the theft of sound recordings through peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing networks—a point emphasized in the lawsuit.
The labels further assert that “Verizon ignored Plaintiffs’ notices and buried its head in the sand,” continuing to service known repeat infringers to collect millions of dollars in subscription fees. They now seek damages of up to $150,000 per infringed work, which totals over $2.6 billion based on a list of 17,335 titles.
This lawsuit represents one of many that record labels and movie studios have initiated against ISPs. A related case involves Cox Communications, which has been appealing a $1 billion jury verdict since 2019. The US Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit recently overturned that verdict, though it upheld findings of willful contributory infringement.
The Verizon case also highlights significant alleged repeat offenders, including one subscriber cited in 4,450 infringement notices between March 2021 and August 2023. The plaintiffs argue Verizon prioritized profits over legal obligations, deliberately ignoring these notices.
Verizon’s complaint system is also under scrutiny for being onerous. The lawsuit claims Verizon’s “Anti-Piracy Cooperation Program” imposes burdensome fees and conditions that render it ineffective. Plaintiffs also allege that alternative complaint channels like email are not adequately monitored or enforced.
We have contacted Verizon for a response and will update this article as more information becomes available.
For more details on the lawsuit, visit the source article.