{"id":79589,"date":"2024-10-11T09:01:08","date_gmt":"2024-10-11T09:01:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/?p=79589"},"modified":"2024-10-11T09:01:08","modified_gmt":"2024-10-11T09:01:08","slug":"appeal-court-affirms-piracy-liability-verdict-against-isp-grande-vacates-47m-damages-award","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/?p=79589","title":{"rendered":"Appeal Court Affirms Piracy Liability Verdict Against ISP Grande, Vacates $47m Damages Award"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"justice\"In late 2022, several of the world\u2019s largest music companies including Warner Bros. and Sony Music prevailed in their lawsuit<\/a> against Internet provider Grande Communications.<\/p>\n

The record labels accused the Astound-owned ISP of not doing enough to stop pirating subscribers. Specifically, they alleged that the company failed to terminate repeat infringers.<\/p>\n

The trial lasted more than two weeks and ended in a resounding victory for the labels. A Texas federal jury found Grande guilty of willful contributory copyright infringement, and the ISP was ordered to pay $47 million in damages<\/a> to the record labels. <\/p>\n

$47 Million Appeal<\/h2>\n

This September, Grande filed its opening brief<\/a> in which it again argued that the lower court reached the wrong conclusion. Internet providers shouldn\u2019t be held liable for pirating customers based on third-party allegations, the company noted. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis appeal presents important questions of first impression in this Circuit about whether, and in what circumstances, an internet service provider may be held secondarily liable for the conduct of users of its service,\u201d the ISP wrote. <\/p>\n

The ISP believes that it shouldn\u2019t have to terminate Internet access this easily. This view is bolstered by a recent Supreme Court decision in favor of Twitter and other social media platforms, which held that they\u2019re not liable for terrorist messages.<\/p>\n

Grande is not alone in this appeal. Several telecoms organizations agreed that terminations are a drastic and overbroad remedy, which can have severe consequences for non-infringers. <\/p>\n

Record Labels Counter<\/h2>\n

The record labels countered Grande\u2019s appeal. They believe that the jury reached a sound verdict that should be upheld on appeal; the alternative would make it almost impossible to tackle the online piracy problem. <\/p>\n

Grande could have avoided liability if it had adopted and reasonably implemented policies to terminate repeat infringing subscribers. However, the music companies argue that the ISP chose to increase its profits instead<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The rightsholders believe that Grande\u2019s decision was financially motivated. The company reportedly terminated the accounts of many subscribers who failed to pay their bills but took no action against repeat infringers.<\/p>\n

Appeals Court Affirms Jury Verdict<\/h2>\n

After hearing both sides, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the jury verdict yesterday. Grande\u2019s arguments, suggesting that the district court mistakenly upheld the verdict earlier, were rejected. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe district court did not err in upholding the jury\u2019s unanimous liability verdict because Plaintiffs satisfied each element legally and factually,\u201d the decision reads. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe court correctly interpreted the law and instructed the jury on the relevant legal standards in light of the factual issues disputed by the parties, and Plaintiffs introduced ample evidence from which a reasonable jury could find in Plaintiffs\u2019 favor.\u201d<\/p>\n

Material Contribution<\/h2>\n

To hold Grande accountable for copyright infringement, the music companies had to prove they owned the copyrights to the music in question, and demonstrate that Grande\u2019s subscribers shared that music illegally. After reviewing the evidence, the Court of Appeals found that both elements were sufficiently proven.<\/p>\n

Next, the Court had to determine whether Grande is secondarily liable for its subscribers\u2019 infringements. This requires the ISP to \u2018know\u2019 about the pirating subscribers. In addition, there should be evidence showing that Grande induced or materially contributed to the pirating activities. <\/p>\n

Grande \u2018knew\u2019 about the infringements through the piracy notices they received. The crux of the appeal lay in interpreting the \u2018material contribution\u2019 part. <\/p>\n

The Twitter Precedent<\/h2>\n

Grande found support in a recent Twitter vs. Taamneh<\/a><\/em> ruling, where the Supreme Court rejected the claim that Twitter aided-and-abetted terrorist activity because it didn\u2019t \u201cconsciously and culpably\u201d participate in the illegal activity. According to the ISP, the same logic should apply in this case.<\/p>\n

The Court of Appeals, however, doesn\u2019t follow this reasoning. It points out that the Twitter ruling never referenced copyright. As such, that ruling should not be used to change fundamental principles of copyright liability.<\/p>\n

In addition, the Court stresses that there\u2019s a key difference with the Twitter case. The social media company was accused of liability for a terrorist attack because its platform was used for fundraising. There was no direct link between the actual attack and Twitter, however. <\/p>\n

In Grande\u2019s case, there is a direct nexus between the copyright infringements and the use of Grande\u2019s network, as Internet access was required to share the copyright infringing music. <\/p>\n

\u201cGrande provided those subscribers with the tools necessary to conduct those infringements and continued doing so after learning that those subscribers were repeatedly using those tools to infringe, in furtherance of a policy never to terminate subscribers for copyright infringement,\u201d the Court writes. <\/p>\n

Grande is Liable<\/h2>\n

In addition to the material contribution challenge, Grande and its supporters also pointed out that terminating Internet access isn\u2019t a \u201csimple measure\u201d, as the jury concluded. Instead, it is drastic and overbroad, which could also impact innocent subscribers. <\/p>\n

The Court of Appeals rejects this reasoning. Instead, it states that the jury could and did conclude that terminations are a simple measure. There is no evidence to reach a different conclusion. <\/p>\n

All in all, the Court sees no reason to reverse the jury\u2019s verdict that Grande is liable for contributory infringement. This means that the jury verdict is affirmed. <\/p>\n

$47m Damages Award Vacated<\/h2>\n

While the liability verdict stands, there was some positive news for the ISP as well. The Court overturned the lower court\u2019s decision on how damages should be calculated. A new trial will determine the appropriate amount. <\/p>\n

At the heart of the damages dispute, is the question of how to calculate damages when multiple copyrighted songs from the same album are illegally downloaded. The original ruling awarded damages for each individual song. However, Grande argued that the law only allows for a single damage award per album, regardless of how many songs from that album were shared illegally.<\/p>\n

The labels argued that it would be best to count all songs separately, as they all have value. This argument was supported by the Copyright Alliance, which informed the court that concluding otherwise would \u201cthreaten the livelihood of some copyright owners.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Court acknowledged these concerns, but countered that awarding statutory damages on a per-song basis \u201cwould make a total mockery\u201d of Congress\u2019 mandate. If rightsholders would like this to change, they should ask Congress to change the law. <\/p>\n

\u201cIn sum, the record evidence indicates that many of the works in suit are compilations (albums) comprising individual works (songs). The statute unambiguously instructs that a compilation is eligible for only one statutory damage award, whether or not its constituent works are separately copyrightable,\u201d the Court notes.<\/p>\n

\u201cAccordingly, we vacate the statutory-damages award and remand for a new trial on damages with the proper jury instruction.\u201d<\/p>\n

The decision is a major win for the record labels, as the copyright infringement verdict stands. The Court\u2019s dismissal of the \u2018Twitter defense\u2019 is also key, as these same arguments are used in many related lawsuits. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The conclusion<\/em><\/center>
\"appeal<\/center><\/p>\n

Whether Grande plans any future challenges is unknown. In any case, it can focus on the new damages trial, where it hopes to substantially lower the $47 million damages award.<\/p>\n

\u2014<\/em><\/p>\n

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals opinion, signed by Circuit Judges Higginbotham, Stewart, and Higginson, is available here (pdf)<\/a><\/p>\n

From: TF<\/a>, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.<\/p>\n

Powered by WPeMatico<\/a><\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In late 2022, several of the world\u2019s largest music companies including Warner Bros. and Sony Music prevailed in their lawsuit against Internet provider Grande Communications. The record labels accused the Astound-owned ISP of not doing enough to stop pirating subscribers. Specifically, they alleged that the company failed to terminate repeat infringers. The trial lasted more […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":79590,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[308],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-79589","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-torrent"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79589","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=79589"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79589\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/79590"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=79589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=79589"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=79589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}