LOS ANGELES (CelebrityAccess) – Altice USA, the corporate behind the Optimum broadband and cable model, has settled a $1 billion copyright infringement lawsuit filed by main music trade gamers. The lawsuit, initiated in December 2022 by BMG Rights Administration, Common Music Group (UMG), Capitol Information, and Harmony Music Group, accused Altice of disregarding rampant copyright violations by its subscribers, permitting the corporate to revenue from the infringements.
The plaintiffs claimed that Altice’s inaction had induced important hurt to their companies and to the artists and songwriters they characterize. They alleged that Altice ignored the violations and benefited financially from them, contributing materially to the infringement.
Regardless of this settlement, Altice continues to face authorized challenges. In December 2023, Warner Information and Sony Music Publishing filed the same lawsuit alleging that Altice’s web subscribers immediately infringed upon over 10,700 copyrighted works. This new authorized motion may doubtlessly price Altice greater than $1.6 billion in damages, with the plaintiffs looking for the utmost statutory tremendous of $150,000 per violation.
Altice has pledged to vigorously defend towards the claims on this case, citing a protection below the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) that might doubtlessly restrict or preclude damages.
These authorized actions are a part of a broader effort by the music trade to crack down on on-line piracy. Music corporations have shifted their focus from peer-to-peer file-sharing providers to web service suppliers (ISPs), viewing them as crucial gamers in curbing unlawful actions.
In latest months, a number of ISPs, together with Verizon, Brilliant Home Networks, Grande Communications, and Cox Communications, have confronted related lawsuits. Cox, for instance, was ordered to pay roughly $1 billion in damages in a 2019 case however had the award overturned by a federal appeals courtroom earlier this 12 months. Cox has since petitioned the US Supreme Court docket to overview the case, arguing that the ruling may result in households and companies being disconnected from the web.