Apparently you can still download valuable music recordings for free using BitTorrent; this comes from a US lawsuit filed by nearly three dozen record companies against Verizon. They accuse the network operator of not responding properly to rights holders’ copyright complaints against Internet users. The plaintiffs want Verizon to shut down the offenders’ Internet access; because it didn’t, Verizon is now expected to pay out nearly $2.6 billion in addition to interest and procedural costs.
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The plaintiffs include Universal, Capitol, Atlantic, Elektra, Warner Music and Sony Music. They claim that they have hired a special company to monitor file sharing. This company then submitted more than 340,000 copyright complaints to Verizon. In each case the IP address of the accused connection owner was mentioned. More than 20 complaints have been filed for thousands of IP addresses, and more than 500 connections have been targeted at least 100 times by rights holders; the commissioned company also sent more than 2,000 complaints for three IP addresses.
But, the allegation is that Verizon did not kick these customers out. “Verizon receives a direct financial benefit from this,” especially since the accused customers pay for their own Internet connections. Verizon also saves money by not taking effective action against repeat copyright infringers. Record labels apparently believe that the same connection owner is always behind the IP address. With the lawsuit, the record labels want to either hold Verizon responsible for contributing to copyright infringement (contributory infringement) or make them vicariously liable for their copyright-infringing customers (vicarious infringement). In either case, US law provides for liquidated damages of up to $150,000 per violation.
The list runs to over 400 pages
The plaintiffs have submitted to the court a (apparently incomplete) list of music recordings that Verizon customers are said to have copied illegally using BitTorrent. This list is more than 400 pages long. The lawsuit apparently refers only to those copyright violations that occurred after the first complaint in relation to the corresponding IP addresses in the Verizon network.
US providers are under no legal obligation to disconnect suspicious customers from the Internet after a certain number of complaints. However, some Internet service providers (ISPs) have included relevant clauses in their contractual terms and conditions.
The record labels take particular exception to Verizon’s approach to this issue. The network operator has set up its own portal through which rights holders can automatically submit their copyright complaints against Verizon customers. Verizon will forward this to the affected connection holders. However, Verizon charges a fee for the use of this portal and requires that rights holders sign a release of liability for Verizon and a confidentiality of the terms of use. They allege that rights holders who do not accept this can also submit their complaints by email, but Verizon does not take further action on these emails.
The case against Cox continues
Heise Online has invited Verizon to comment. The process is called UMG Recordings et al v. Verizon et al and is pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York under case number 24-cv-05285. Verizon’s mobile communications division, with approximately 145 million connections, and its landline division, with approximately eleven million broadband connections, are both defendants.
In 2021, a jury in the US state of Virginia sentenced US provider Cox to one billion dollars in damages as an accomplice to copyright infringement by its customers (Sony Music et al v. Cox Communications et alUS 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 22-1451); the federal district court must set a new, lower amount. New York is not in the Fourth Circuit, but in the Second Circuit.
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Statement of Claim UMG Recordings et al v. Verizon et al
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