Major record companies and ABKCO have settled a piracy lawsuit with Frontier Communications Corp., ending a legal battle that threatened the internet provider with hundreds of millions of dollars in damages.
As first reported by TorrentFreak, subsidiaries of Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group reached a settlement with Frontier Communications last week (May 28), according to a court filing in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York.
According to the filing, which you can read in full here, the case was dismissed “with prejudice,” meaning it can’t be refiled. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed, but the filing noted that all parties have agreed to “bear [their] own fees and costs”.
The settlement ends a dispute that began in 2021 when the music companies accused Frontier of “purposefully ignoring and turning a blind eye” to “rampant infringement on its network.”
The labels accused Frontier of receiving over 20,000 takedown notices but refused to disconnect repeat infringers. They claimed Frontier chose instead to profit from subscribers who used the service “to illegally download and distribute Plaintiffs’ sound recordings on Frontier’s network.”
The music companies sought up to $150,000 for each of the 2,856 works that were allegedly infringed.
Frontier, which had about 3.5 million internet customers in 2019, emerged from bankruptcy in April 2021, just months before the lawsuit was filed.
Court documents filed by the record companies in 2021 against Frontier allege that some of the ISP’s subscribers received “100 or more” infringement notices without facing termination.
The labels argued Frontier marketed high-speed internet with taglines like “[d]ownload 10 songs in 3.5 seconds” while knowing customers were using BitTorrent and other file-sharing networks to steal copyrighted material.
“Frontier operated its network as an attractive tool and safe haven for infringement,” the record companies said in their complaint.
“By failing to terminate the accounts of specific recidivist infringers known to Frontier, Frontier obtained a direct financial benefit from that infringing activity. That financial benefit included improper revenue that Frontier would not have otherwise received had it terminated those accounts.”
“Frontier operated its network as an attractive tool and safe haven for infringement.”
Subsidiaries of UMG, Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music
“Frontier decided not to terminate repeat infringers for one simple reason: it wanted to maintain the revenue stream that it generated from their accounts,” according to the complaint.
The lawsuit is among a number of other cases involving ISPs and music labels. Labels have also brought similar lawsuits against other ISPs including Cox Communications, Charter Communications and Astound Broadband.
In November 2024, the US Supreme Court invited the federal government to provide input on a copyright dispute between major music labels and Cox Communications.
The dispute stems from a $1 billion jury verdict originally awarded to more than 50 labels owned by Sony Music Entertainment (the lead plaintiff), as well as Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group.
The labels accused Cox of not doing enough to prevent its subscribers from illegally downloading and distributing copyrighted music through peer-to-peer networks.
Music Business Worldwide
