UMG v. Grande Communications: Another Victory for the Music Industry in Its Battle to Hold ISPs Liable for Peer-to-Peer File Sharing

Since the advent of the Internet, the music industry has been in a pitched battle to combat online piracy. Initially, the industry focused on shutting down services that offered peer-to-peer or other similar platforms, such as Napster, Aimster and Grokster. (See, A&M Records, Inc. v. Napster, 239 F.3d 1004 (9th Cir. 2001); In re Aimster Copyright Litig., 334 F.3d 643 (7th Cir. 2003); MGM Studios, Inc. v. Grokster, Ltd., 545 U.S. 913 (2005)). For a time, the industry also focused on filing claims against individual infringers to dissuade others from engaging similar conduct. In recent years, the industry seems to have shifted focus toward Internet Service Providers (ISPs), which provide Internet connectivity to their users.

Cox Communications

In November 2014, the music industry launched their first attack on ISPs, with an action against Cox Communications in the Eastern District of Virginia. A little over a year later, after stripping Cox of its safe harbor protection under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) on summary judgment, the case culminated in a jury trial that resulted in a multi-million dollar verdict for BMG. On appeal, in a February 2018 decision, while reversing and remanding for a new trial in light of certain errors in the jury instructions, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals largely sided with BMG. See, BMG Rights Mgmt. (US) LLC v. Cox Commc'ns, Inc., 881 F.3d 293 (4th Cir. 2018).