Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group, and Warner Music Group have jointly filed a lawsuit against Verizon, accusing the telecommunications giant of profiting from copyright infringement. The lawsuit, under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, involves 17,335 tracks for which the labels seek up to $150,000 per violation, totaling $2.6 billion.
According to the lawsuit, the record labels claim Verizon has disregarded over 350,000 infringement notices sent since 2020. They allege that Verizon subscribers received multiple notices—some exceeding 20—without facing any consequences.
The lawsuit asserts that Verizon’s alleged lax policies towards copyright infringement, coupled with its high-speed internet services conducive to peer-to-peer (P2P) sharing, created an environment that facilitated copyright violations. The labels argue that Verizon’s actions or lack thereof encouraged subscribers to engage in infringing activities.
“Infringing subscribers were attracted to Verizon’s services due to its lenient approach to copyright infringement and faster internet speeds, which facilitated the use of P2P protocols,” the lawsuit claims. It further accuses Verizon of failing to comply with legal requirements by ignoring the plaintiffs’ infringement notices.
The labels accuse Verizon of both contributory and vicarious copyright infringement. They are seeking maximum penalties for each violation listed in addition to reimbursement of attorney’s fees.
Verizon has yet to respond publicly to the lawsuit.
