Cox asks US Supreme Court to overturn piracy ruling for major labels

Aug 15 (Reuters) - Internet service provider Cox Communications asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday to review a ruling that held the company responsible for its users' music piracy and led to a $1 billion verdict for a group of major record labels against the ISP.

Cox argued that the decision to hold it liable for piracy of thousands of songs from labels including Sony Music (6758.T), Universal Music Group (UMG.AS) and Warner Music Group (WMG.O) had created "confusion, disruption, and chaos on the internet," according to a copy of the petition provided by the company.

The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in February upheld part of a jury verdict that Cox committed secondary copyright infringement by failing to address user piracy, while also throwing out a $1 billion award for the labels and ordering a new trial to redetermine the amount of damages that Cox owed for the infringement.

"We look forward to responding to Cox's petition, which on first read is substantively meritless," the labels' attorney Matt Oppenheim of Oppenheim + Zebrak said. Oppenheim said that the labels would file their own Supreme Court challenge on Friday seeking to reinstate the billion-dollar verdict.

Cox spokesperson Todd Smith said its Supreme Court petition "aims to protect users' privacy and avoid unintended consequences that will harm innocent and non-infringing consumers."

More than 50 labels teamed up to sue Cox in 2018. They accused Cox of failing to address thousands of infringement notices, cut off access for repeat infringers or take reasonable measures to deter pirates.

A Virginia jury found in 2019 that Cox owed $1 billion in damages for its customers' violations of more than 10,000 music copyrights.

The 4th Circuit said in February that the award could not stand, reversing part of the infringement verdict and remanding the case for a new trial on damages. Cox told the Supreme Court on Wednesday that it should not be liable for infringement at all.

Cox said that it could only avoid liability under the lower court decisions by terminating internet service for "entire households, coffee shops, hospitals, universities, and even regional [ISPs] — the internet lifeline for tens of thousands of homes and businesses — merely because some unidentified person was previously alleged to have used the connection to infringe."