“Cox’s conduct was not that of a single rogue employee. It was endemic to the culture of a business that systematically helped infringers, openly mocked copyright laws and lied to copyright owners. ”
According to Sony Music Entertainment, Cox Communications deserves to pay the billion dollar jury verdict imposed on it in December for facilitating a large-scale hacking system, according to a new court application filed on Friday. The motion was filed in response to Cox’s request on January 31 asking a judge to grant him a new trial or set aside the verdict, calling him “completely dissociated from the evidence at trial” and saying that it “constituted miscarriage of justice. “
“For years, Cox has knowingly facilitated the hacking of [Sony Music’s] large-scale copyrighted works, “reads Sony’s recent court application. “Cox’s conduct was not that of a single rogue employee. She was endemic to the culture of a business that systematically helped infringers, openly mocked copyright laws and lied to copyright owners about owners about its allegedly “stallion” policies -gold”. “
Sony Music attorneys argue in court documents that Cox deliberately allowed piracy to continue “to maximize his billions of dollars in profits – with complete disregard for the laws and copyright owners.”
A jury lifted the $ 1 billion verdict against Cox on December 19 after a 12-day trial in the US District Court in Virginia. Cox was defending himself in court after labels and their publishers took legal action against the company in July 2018, when they accused the Internet and cable service provider of turning a blind eye to hackers on its network. They alleged that Cox “deliberately refused to take reasonable measures” to deal with copyright infringers, even after the company learned of specific infringements from its customers.
The verdict concluded that Cox was responsible for pirating more than 10,000 musical works.
In Sony Music’s Friday motion – tabled by Oppenheim + Zebrak, the law firm representing the music industry in the case – lawyers argue that, contrary to Cox’s claims, it is not a “jury on the run” who made the decision in this case. Instead, they argue that it was a jury that took many notes throughout the trial, understood “the massive scale of the infringement” and ordered a large monetary award to “deter future unlawful behavior” “
They further contend that not only did they demonstrate at trial that Cox had slashed the crime team, ignored notices, blacklisted complainants and limited daily suspensions, but that they favored profits rather than limiting infringements. Although the monetary reward seems substantial, the Sony Music legal team argues that the verdict is “constitutionally sound” based on the number of counterfeit works.
“Cox has received substantial subscription revenues that it would not otherwise have obtained” and provided a “safe haven” for a widespread offense, according to Sony Music’s motion, which also claims that the amount of the verdict is justifiable when we look at Cox’s total profits, the company earning $ 8.3 billion in net profits in one year.
A judge will hear oral arguments on this issue from both Sony and Cox on March 26.