• by Wendy Davis  @wendyndavis, September 17, 2024

Verizon and other internet service providers are backing Cox Communications' request that the Supreme Court intervene in a battle with music companies over illegal downloads by broadband subscribers.

In a friend-of-the-court brief filed Monday, Verizon and the others argue that the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals wrongly ruled that Cox contributed to copyright infringement because it didn't disconnect subscribers who allegedly downloaded music unlawfully.

That ruling “runs roughshod over the traditional common-law limits on aiding-and-abetting liability,” Verizon, Frontier and Altice USA write.

“A business that merely knows some people are using its product for nefarious ends is not liable as an aider and abettor, even if it consciously fails to stop them,” the companies add.

Verizon, Frontier and Altice -- which are facing separate copyright infringement suits for allegedly failing to disconnect suspected file-sharers -- are weighing in on a battle between record labels and Cox dating to 2018, when Sony Music Entertainment and dozens of other music companies sued Cox for allegedly facilitating piracy. The music companies alleged that they sent “hundreds of thousands” of notifications about piracy to Cox, and that the company failed to terminate repeat offenders.

Cox was found liable and a jury ordered the broadband provider to pay $1 billion to the record companies.

Cox then appealed to the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, which upheld a finding that Cox contributed to copyright infringement by failing to disconnect alleged file-sharers, but sent the matter back to the trial court for a new trial on damages.

Cox recently asked the Supreme Court to review the appellate ruling.

“The only way Cox could have avoided liability was by terminating ... internet connections,” the company wrote. “That means terminating entire households, coffee shops, hospitals, universities, and even regional internet service providers.”

Cox added that the consequences of the 4th Circuit's ruling will be “dangerous and drastic.”

“Grandma will be thrown off the internet because Junior visited and illegally downloaded songs,” Cox wrote. “An entire dorm or corporation will lose internet because a couple of residents or customers infringed.”

Verizon and the others are supporting Cox's request, arguing that providers shouldn't be held liable for infringement simply for failing to disconnect suspected infringers.

“Terminating a customer’s internet access prevents anyone from using that connection not just for copyright infringement, but also for any legitimate purpose,” the companies argue.

“Termination prevents everyone who relies on a shared internet connection -- in a household, coffee shop, office, school, library, or hospital -- from using the internet for any purpose,” the companies add. “They cannot look for a job, pay their bills, read the news, communicate with co-workers, post homework assignments, or check prescription medications.”

The record labels are expected to respond to the request for Supreme Court review by mid-October.