Verizon Pushes to Dismiss Copyright Suit Over Music Downloads

Verizon Communications Inc. pushed back on claims from record labels that it allowed its internet users to share illegally downloaded music in violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, saying in a court filing it “did not culpably aid the music piracy.”

The DMCA allegations of contributory infringement leveled by labels including UMG Recordings Inc., Atlantic Records Group LLC, and Warner Music Inc. are legally deficient because liability requires “culpable action, not passive inaction,” Verizon Wireless said in a Thursday motion to dismiss the labels’ lawsuit in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York. Although record ...