Major record labels are urging a Texas federal court to maintain its $47 million piracy liability judgment against Grande Communications, following the internet service provider's appeal of the original verdict.

The case stems from a 2022 federal jury decision that found Grande Communications guilty of willful contributory copyright infringement. The verdict required Grande to pay $47 million in damages to major record companies including Warner and Sony.

Grande's appeal argues that ISPs shouldn't be held liable for customer piracy based on third-party allegations. However, record labels have submitted an 89-page response brief defending the original verdict, stating that reversing it would severely hamper efforts to combat online piracy.

Key points from the labels' response:

• ISPs are uniquely positioned to identify subscribers through IP addresses
• Grande knowingly ignored legal obligations to address piracy
• The company continued collecting fees from known repeat infringers
• Grande terminated accounts for non-payment but not for copyright violations
• The ISP enabled copyright infringement for nearly seven years

While Grande's appeal relies heavily on the Twitter vs Tammneh ruling regarding platform liability, the labels argue this precedent shouldn't apply to copyright infringement cases. They contend that applying the Twitter ruling would inappropriately alter existing copyright law.

The US Court of Appeals will make the final decision on the case. The record labels have indicated they will file a counter-appeal if the original ruling is not upheld.

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