BMG, Round Hill Reassert Arguments for Attorney Fees in Cox Torrent Piracy Row

Cox Communications' "sham" Digital Millennium Copyright Act defense and its attempt to obfuscate through discovery abuses drove up the cost of litigation, so it can't complain about having to bear those costs, said BMG Rights Management and Round Hill Music in a supplemental principal and response brief (in Pacer) filed Friday with the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Cox, fighting BMG's motion for $10.48 million in attorney's fees and $2.92 million in expenses (see 1610030005), never addresses those behaviors that caused the lower court to award fees, they said. They said Cox argued the torrent piracy lawsuit raised novel issues, but the 4th Circuit and the Supreme Court in its 2016 Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons decision rejected "novelty" as protection from avoiding fees. Counsel for Cox didn't comment Monday.