ISP ‘victim, not perpetrator’ in Sony copyright infringement case

Internet service provider (ISP) Grande Communications has asked a court to dismiss a copyright lawsuit brought against it by record companies.

As reported by TBO in April, labels including Sony Music and Capitol Records sued Grande for failing to disconnect users who downloaded music illegally.

According to the complaint, Grande “permitted repeat infringers to use the service” despite being notified that its users had engaged in “more than one million infringements of copyrighted works” over the BitTorrent system.

It added that the reason the defendant has not taken action is because it would cause the ISP to lose revenue from the subscription fees that the infringing customers pay.

However, in a motion to dismiss filed at the US District Court for the Western District of Texas yesterday, June 19, Grande said it was a “victim, not perpetrator” of online copyright infringement.

“To hold Grande liable for copyright infringement simply because ‘something must be done’ to address this growing problem is to hold the wrong party accountable.

“Grande does not sanction, approve, or profit from—let alone advertise or encourage—the use of BitTorrent or other applications that enable copyright infringement.”

The ISP concluded by saying that while it can terminate the membership of its customers as requested by the record labels in the complaint, this won’t stop them using the internet.

It is asking the court to dismiss the plaintiffs’ claim and grant any additional relief that the court finds appropriate.

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