Music Publishers Sue Cox Communications Internet Provider For Facilitating Piracy

As the issue of online music piracy continues to plague artists and the industry, two music publishers are claiming a cable company is not part of the solution but part of the problem. BMG Rights Management and Round Hill Music filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the privately held Cox Communications Inc., saying it is aiding and abetting piracy.

The music publishers have alleged that Cox, an Internet service provider to more than 4 million households, knowingly allows pirates to illegally traffic stolen music on its network without doing anything to stop it, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Filed in a federal court in Virginia, the lawsuit claimed there is evidence that Cox has an incentive to turn a blind eye to the purported copyright infringement so as not to jeopardize its own business dealings, the L.A. Times reported. The suit said Cox is purposefully allowing “repeat infringement by its subscribers” because terminating contracts would “cause Cox to lose revenue.”

BMG Rights Management, based in Berlin, and Round Hill Music, headquartered in New York, control the rights to songs by various popular artists, such as The Beatles, David Bowie and Katy Perry.