Another Broadband Provider Battles DMCA Lawsuit - UMG Recordings v. Grande Communications
UPDATE: ISP Grande Communications Found Secondarily Liable For Copyright Infringement, Must Pay $46.7 Million In Statutory Damages
November 3, 2022 – A jury has determined that Grande Communications, LLC is contributorily liable for copyright infringement of 1,403 copyrighted works owned by a group of record labels. It also concluded Grande’s contributory infringement was willful. The jury awarded the record labels a total of $46,766,200.00 in statutory damages.
Another Internet service provider is embroiled in a DMCA-related copyright infringement lawsuit brought by content owners and their copyright hitman Rightscorp. And, there is a neat twist to this lawsuit – the broadband provider’s consultant was also named as a defendant. The case is UMG Recordings, Inc., et al., v. Grande Communications Networks, LLC, and Patriot Media Consulting, LLC, and a U.S. Magistrate Judge recently issued a report and recommendation ruling on the defendants’ motions to dismiss.[1] The pleadings and the Magistrate’s report address many of the same issues involved in the Fourth Circuit’s recent decision in BMG v. Cox Communications.
Here’s the background...
The plaintiffs in this case are a collection of record companies that produce and distribute commercial sound recordings in the U.S. (UMG, Capitol Records, Warner Bros. Records, Sony Music, Roc-A-Fella Records, and numerous others – basically the largest record companies in the U.S.). They are referred to collectively as UMG for simplicity. UMG deploys Rightscorp to go after individuals (and ISPs) that illegally pirate UMG’s content using BitTorrent.
The primary defendant, Grande Communications Networks, LLC, is a telecom company that, among other things, offers broadband Internet access in Austin, Dallas, San Antonio and other parts of Texas. According to Grande’s Wikipedia page, Grande “serves as the primary provider of cable services for dormitories on the campuses of Texas State University, University of the Incarnate Word, Baylor University and the University of Texas at Austin.” For what it’s worth, college students are notorious for engaging in illegal file-sharing online. At least they have been in the past. Anyway, Grande is owned by a private equity firm and is in the process of combining with RCN and Wave Broadband. The other defendant, Patriot Media Consulting, LLC, is a management consulting firm which provides various management services to Grande.
On April 21, 2017, UMG filed a complaint alleging Grande and Patriot are secondarily liable for copyright infringement, and seeking monetary damages and injunctive release. UMG claims it notified Grande “of more than one million infringements” by Grande’s broadband subscribers.[2] The UMG complaint lays out the following data points to allege that copyright infringement is rampant on Grande’s network:
Prior to the filing of this complaint, Grande received notice that 1,840 of its customers had each engaged in infringement at least one hundred times. At least 456 of Grande’s customers had generated 500 notices of infringement. More than 208 customers each generated at least 1,000 notices of infringement. And some of Grande’s customers generated more than 2,000 notices of infringement each.[3]
UMG claims “Grande has chosen not to adopt and reasonably implement [a] policy for preventing repeat infringement.”[4] Because Grande continued to provide Internet access to the subscribers ticketed with these DMCA notices, UMG claims “Grande is liable as a contributory copyright infringer for the infringing acts of its subscribers.”[5]
UMG makes the same allegations against Patriot because UMG claims Patriot “was responsible for management of Grande, including performing executive, legal, and compliance responsibilities.”[6] In other words, Grande’s failure to police repeat infringers is Patriot’s failure, and therefore liability also flows to Patriot.
Grande and Patriot each responded by filing a 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim. After UMG filed oppositions and Grande and Patriot filed replies, the District Court referred disposition of the motions to the Magistrate Judge which gets us to the February 28, 2018 report and recommendation. Another blog post will cover the Magistrate’s decision.
For more on UMG Recordings, Inc., et al., v. Grande Communications Networks, LLC, go here:
Death Blow: Texas Court Strips ISP Grande Communications Of DMCA Safe Harbor Defense
Another Broadband Provider Battles DMCA Lawsuit
Court Denies UMG’s Attempt To Amend Copyright Infringement Complaint Against Grande Communications
UMG v. Grande Communications Update: Grande’s Motion For Summary Judgment
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[1] UMG Recordings, Inc. v. Grande Communications Networks, LLC, 2018 WL 1096871 (W.D. Tex. Feb. 28, 2018) (Magistrate’s Report and Recommendation).
[2] UMG Complaint at ¶ 49.
[3] Id. at ¶ 49.
[4] Id. at ¶ 46.
[5] Id. at ¶ 65.
[6] Id. at ¶ 75.