Judge Grants BMG Judgment in DMCA Suit Against Cox

In a decision that could have implications for other ISPs, a U.S. District judge has granted in part and denied in part music rights company BMG's request for summary judgment in its suit against Cox alleging it was not sufficiently responsive to BMG's requests that it terminate the accounts of subscribers who repeatedly infringed its copyrights.

ISPs have to respond to such requests to retain DMCA protection from copyright infringement claims themselves. BMG says Cox has not done that since its subs do not face a realistic threat of losing their accounts even for repeat infringements.

Cox was unavailable for comment, but in its response to the court after the suit was filed, Cox countered that it vigorously enforces its infringer policy, takes a "graduated" approach to allegations, and that BMG (and Round Hill) mischaracterized that policy and might not have rights to the content they were asserting.

Cox says that Rightscorp., which, acting for BMG and Round Hill, monitored and identified the infringement, was a shady operation that, with BMG and Round Hill's complicity, was exacting retribution through the suit for Cox's refusal to participate in a scheme to "shake down ISP customers for money without regard to actual liability," and trying to get ISPs to participate in that scheme.

The judge in a two-page summary of his upcoming decision denied Cox's motion, and upheld BMG's request for partial summary judgment, though it denied that of Round Hill's, saying it did not have exclusive rights to the copyrights at issue.

Judge Liam O'Grady signaled that Cox could not use the DMCA safe harbor defense, saying "there is no genuine issue of material fact as to whether defendants reasonably implemented a repeat infringer policy, as required by the DMCA."

He did not come right out and say the material fact was that the policy was insufficient, but the summary judgment appeared to make that point without it being spelled out.

BMG and Round Hill Music both sued in the Eastern District of Virginia. Both Cox and the music publishers sought summary judgment, Cox to dismiss the case and BMG and Round Hill for a decision against Cox.

BMG is seeking civil damages and injunctive relief, which the court has yet to rule on.

(Photo via Rumble Press' FlickrImage taken on Nov. 13, 2015 and used per Creative Commons 2.0 license. The photo was cropped to fit 3x4 aspect ratio.)

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.