Altice Wants BMG Infringement Case Transferred to Eastern N.Y.

Defendant Altice seeks to have allegations it ignored copyright infringement committed by thousands of its high-speed internet subscribers (see 2212150019) moved to the Eastern District of New York (EDNY), said its motion to transfer venue Friday (docket 2:22-cv-00471) in U.S. District Court for Eastern Texas in Marshall. Plaintiffs BMG and its affiliates oppose the motion, said Altice.

The plaintiffs’ theory of liability “is that Altice’s corporate decisionmakers made decisions in New York that tolerated and ultimately contributed to infringement by Altice’s subscribers,” said Altice. “Unsurprisingly, then, virtually every witness and document custodian with information relevant to Altice’s policies for addressing alleged infringement -- the heart of this case -- is located in the EDNY,” it said.

The case, by contrast, "has no relevant nexus to Texas,” said Altice. The lead plaintiff, BMG Rights Management, is based in New York, it said. The other plaintiffs are in Santa Monica and Nashville, “which are direct flights to and from New York,” unlike the Eastern District of Texas, it said.

There's "no mystery" about the evidence "that will be necessary in this case,” said Altice. “Similar disputes among similar parties” played out several times in recent years, with music companies suing ISPs “on virtually identical theories of secondary copyright liability,” it said.

The plaintiffs’ claims “boil down to the contention that Altice should have, but did not, swiftly terminate any household or business whose IP address was identified in more than a couple of notices,” said Altice. In response, Altice will establish “that it employs robust and highly effective policies that address notices of alleged infringement through an escalating process that culminates in account termination when appropriate,” it said.

A "leading defense" in this case will be the safe harbor in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, “which bars an ISP’s damages liability” as long as it adopted and reasonably implemented policies for terminating “repeat infringers,” said Altice. “Everything related to these issues is in the EDNY, where Altice is headquartered,” it said. That’s where Altice “developed or instituted its relevant policies,” and that’s where plaintiffs “send their notices of alleged infringement,” it said.