Photo Credit: Leon Bredella
As the Supreme Court prepares to hear a marathon copyright case involving Cox Communications, Verizon is looking to stay the separate infringement action it’s fending off from the major labels.
Verizon just recently asked the court to pause the process pending the Supreme Court ruling. By now, many are familiar with the long-running showdown between the majors (which in a late-2019 trial scored a massive verdict over Cox subscribers’ alleged repeat infringement) and Cox (which has been fighting back against said verdict since then).
Last month, the Supreme Court agreed to review the case, and the resulting precedent could have a far-reaching impact on music-space infringement litigation. More than a few ISPs have faced or are facing copyright lawsuits over their customers’ allegedly unlawful access to protected music.
One of those ISPs is relatively new to the party: The majors only sued Verizon for alleged copyright infringement in July 2024. And though the company has refuted the claims and is seeking dismissal, it’s rather unsurprisingly interested in putting the proceedings on hold for the time being.
“The Court should stay this case until the Supreme Court rules,” Verizon spelled out in a newly submitted letter. “The Cox petition presents the same issue as Verizon’s pending motion to dismiss: whether an internet service provider (‘ISP’) can be contributorily liable when others allegedly use its internet service to commit copyright infringement.
“The Supreme Court’s ruling in Cox will control this Court’s decision on that issue,” Team Verizon proceeded. “A stay is therefore warranted in the interest of judicial economy and will not prejudice any party. The parties have conferred, and the Labels oppose a stay.”
Notwithstanding the latter point, the way Verizon sees things, “[i]t benefits no one – least of all the Labels – to plunge ahead with burdensome litigation on a theory the Supreme Court may soon reject.”
Needless to say, there’s quite a lot riding on that theory’s fate. While all eyes are consequently on the nation’s highest court here, it’ll be some time before the justices produce a ruling in the Cox Communications matter.
“Oral argument will likely occur in December 2025,” Verizon summed up of the timetable, “with a ruling no later than June 30, 2026.”
Closer to the present, other infringement battles are in full swing: DSW this week fired back against the majors’ social media copyright claims, while the University of Southern California closed out June by moving to dismiss a similar action.
Copyright, Music Industry News, Music Law, 1:24-cv-05285
This post was originally authored and published by Dylan Smith Digital Music News via RSS Feed. Join today to get your news feed on Nationwide Report®.
