Appeals Court Undoes $47 Million Music Piracy Award Against ISP

UMG Recordings, Warner Bros. Records, Sony Music, and more than a dozen other music publishers saw their $47 million copyright infringement award against internet service provider Grande Communications Networks LLC nixed by the Fifth Circuit Wednesday.

The jury’s verdict finding Grande liable for contributing to users’ piracy of more than 1,400 songs was rightly confirmed by the Texas district court, but it erred in finding each of the songs was eligible for a separate award of statutory damages, the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit said in its opinion. The appeals court sent the case back to ...