The US Internet provider Cox Communications has to pay one billion US dollars (currently 150 million euros) to 57 record companies and music publishers. Customers of the ISP have in the years 2013 and 2014 10. 017 Pieces of music copied via file sharing networks. Because Cox has not cut off these customers from the Internet despite complaints from the rights holders, the company now has to answer for the copyright infringements of its customers as a contributor from a recent ruling by the US federal district court for eastern Virginia. At first, jurors had Cox Communications ending 2019 to almost 100. 000 Fined dollars per piece of music, which multiplied by 10. 017 makes exactly one billion dollars. The law even stipulates the maximum amount 150. 000 Dollars per infringement.

Too late is expensive Thereupon Cox requested a reduction in the total amount: some of the pieces of music were derived from one another, for example in the form of remixes or shorter variants. Therefore the same amount should not be estimated for all pieces. But that, according to the court, should have been brought up by Cox in the jury trial. Now it is too late for that.

The provider still has the option of an appeal to the Federal Court of Appeal for the fourth federal judicial district. The procedure is called Sony Music et al v. Cox Communications et al and has been serving in the U.S. Federal District Court for Eastern Virginia since 2018 under ref. 1: 18 – cv – 00950 pending.

Decision of the jury in December 2019 Rejection of the reduction (ds)