Cox Communications drops case against BMG and Rightscorp

By Emmanuel Legrand

US internet service provider Cox Communications has dropped its lawsuit against music company BMG and its anti-piracy partner Rightscorp. 

  Cox filed a motion to dismiss with US District Court for the Central District of California, informing the court that it "voluntarily dismissed this case with prejudice." 

  The motion to dismiss does not provide any additional information about the possible settlement between Cox and defendants.

An abusive and unfair campaign

  The ISP has sued BMG and Rightscorp in May 2021, accusing them of having "engaged in an abusive and unfair campaign of deliberately sending Plaintiff Cox Communications, Inc. (“Cox”), an internet service provider, tens of thousands of invalid notices of alleged copyright infringement with the goal of fabricating massive claims for secondary infringement against Cox."

  The suit added: “If Defendants were truly trying to notify Cox’s subscribers of allegations of copyright infringement, they would be sending notices to Cox’s registered agent, as required by law. Cox has informed Defendants of this numerous times, yet Defendants persist in misdirecting their notices to an improper email address.”

Prevent future copyright infringement suits

  Meanwhile, Cox is still engaged in an appeals procedure to try to reverse a previous court decision that ordered the ISP to pay $1 billion to BMG after a jury found Cox contributorily and vicariously liable for the piracy activity of its subscribers and failing to take action. 

  In its analysis of the case, TorrentFreak noted: "For Cox, it was probably most important to prevent any future copyright infringement claims from BMG. And with the appeal against the $1 billion verdict in another lawsuit still pending, the company has other priorities as well."