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.[1] 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.

In April 2017, a group of record labels (UMG, Capitol Records, Warner Bros. Records, Sony Music, Roc-A-Fella Records, and numerous others – basically the largest record companies in the U.S.) filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Grande Communications Networks, LLC.[2] Grande, a telecom service provider that is part of the Astound Broadband family of companies, offers high-speed broadband Internet access in Austin, Dallas, San Antonio and other parts of Texas. In their complaint, the record company plaintiffs alleged Grande is secondarily liable for copyright infringement for allowing its broadband subscribers to repeatedly infringe the record companies’ copyrighted material using BitTorrent and other peer-to-peer file sharing applications.

In a March 2019 ruling on summary judgment motions, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas stripped Grande of its ability to use a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) safe harbor defense against the claims.[3] The Court determined Grande had adopted a DMCA repeat infringer policy during the time period in question, but concluded Grande failed to implement that policy because it never actually terminated any broadband subscribers suspected of repeated copyright infringement. The case then moved to trial, and the jury returned the $46.7 million verdict in favor of the record labels.

In the wake of the jury’s decision finding Grande liable, the Recording Industry Association Of America released the following statement:

Federal law does not allow internet providers to be willfully blind to online piracy on their networks. In this case, the jury found that internet provider Grande Communications failed to meet its legal obligations and was liable for willful copyright infringement. The decision follows several other high-profile cases and settlements addressing repeat infringement on internet provider networks including Cox Communications and Bright House Networks/Charter.

RIAA’s Chairman and CEO Mitch Glazier released the following statement in response: “This is the latest validation by US courts and juries that unchecked online infringement will not stand. The jury’s strong action here sends an important message to Internet Service Providers. Artists, songwriters, rightsholders, fans and legitimate services all depend upon a healthy digital music ecosystem that effectively protects creative works online.”

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[1] UMG Recordings, Inc. et al. v. Grande Communications Networks, LLC,  Case No. 1:17-cv-00365-DAE, Verdict Form (W.D. Tex. Nov. 3, 2022), https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/legaldocs/zdvxdywabvx/IP%20GRANDE%20COPYRIGHT%20verdict.pdf.

[2] UMG Recordings, Inc. et al. v. Grande Communications Networks, LLC and Patriot Media Consulting LLC, Complaint, Case No. 1:17-cv-365 (W.D. Tex. Apr. 21, 2017).

[3] UMG Recordings, Inc. et al. v. Grande Communications Networks, LLC, Order: (1) Adopting report and recommendations; (2) Granting plaintiffs’ motion for partial summary judgment as to Grande’s DMCA safe harbor defense; (3) Granting in part and denying in part Grande’s motion for summary judgment; (4) Denying Grande’s motion for sanctions; and (5) Denying plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment as to liability, Case No. 1:17-CV-365-DAE (W.D. Tex. Mar. 15, 2019).