• by Wendy Davis  @wendyndavis, July 11, 2025

Verizon on Thursday urged a federal judge in New York to pause the record labels' lawsuit over alleged piracy, arguing that the matter shouldn't proceed until the Supreme Court rules in a separate case dealing with internet service providers' liability for copyright infringement by subscribers.

That anticipated Supreme Court ruling will determine whether the labels' copyright claim "remains viable," Verizon's counsel writes in a letter to U.S. District Court Judge Margaret Garnett in the Southern District of New York.

"It benefits no one -- least of all the labels -- to plunge ahead with burdensome litigation on a theory the Supreme Court may soon reject," the company argues.

Verizon says the record labels will oppose the request to halt proceedings.

The telecom's request comes around one week after the Supreme Court agreed to hear Cox Communications' appeal of a decision holding the company responsible for illegal music downloads by broadband subscribers.

In that matter, the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a trial judge's finding that Cox contributed to copyright infringement by failing to disconnect suspected file-sharers.

Last year, Cox petitioned the Supreme Court to review the case, arguing that the 4th Circuit's ruling could result in mass broadband disconnections.

"Without this court’s intervention, the Fourth Circuit’s ruling threatens mass evictions from the internet, severing millions from an essential conduit to engagement with modern society," Cox wrote in its petition for an appeal.

Verizon's legal dispute with the record labels dates to July 2024, when record Universal, Warner and Sony sued Verizon for allegedly facilitating copyright infringement by failing to disconnect subscribers suspected of sharing music online.

The record companies alleged that Verizon ignored notices about subscribers who allegedly shared thousands of tracks, including music by The Rolling Stones, Beyonce, Justin Timberlake and 50 Cent.

Verizon sought a fast dismissal of the lawsuit, arguing that companies that provide online access shouldn't be held responsible for activity by subscribers.

“When people do bad things online, their internet service providers are not typically the ones to blame,” Verizon wrote in papers filed last September.

Garnett hasn't yet ruled on that request. 

Verizon argues in its new filing that the fate of the record labels' case against it will turn on whatever precedent the Supreme Court sets in Cox's appeal. 

"A stay is therefore warranted in the interest of judicial economy and will not prejudice any party," Verizon writes.