Parties in Altice Piracy Suit Seek to Pause Case, Pending SCOTUS' Cox Decision
Altice USA and a set of music labels suing it are jointly asking a federal court to pause the looming trial pending a U.S. Supreme Court decision on music label litigation against Cox Communications. In a joint motion filed Friday (docket 2:23-cv-00576) with the U.S. District Court for Eastern Texas, the labels and Altice said SCOTUS' Cox decision "will address and could alter the legal standards for key issues" in their case. Those include contributory infringement for an ISP and willful infringement, they said.
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The Altice trial is set to begin Sept. 8, but starting it before a Cox decision could cause the parties and court to expend "significant resources ... only to have wasted the jury’s time and have to repeat those efforts" based on what SCOTUS does, the filing said.
SCOTUS in June granted cert to Cox Communications (see 2506300016). Both cases involve issues of contributory liability for music piracy by the ISPs' broadband subscribers.