Judge Denies Grande’s Motion for New Copyright Infringement Trial

U.S. District Judge David Ezra for Western Texas in Austin denied Grande Communications Networks’ Feb. 27 renewed motion for judgment as a matter of law or a new trial in its effort to vacate a Nov. 3 jury verdict awarding major record labels $46.8 million in damages for Grande’s secondary copyright infringement (see 2303010018), said Ezra’s signed order Thursday (docket 1:17-cv-00365). The labels argued, and the jury agreed, that Grande ignored the direct infringement of its internet subscribers. The plaintiff record companies “provided sufficient evidence for a reasonable jury to find that Grande materially contributed to its users’ direct infringement by failing to terminate users after learning of their specific, often repeated, infringement,” said Ezra’s order. “Accordingly, judgment as a matter of law is not proper on this point,” it said. “Neither Grande’s legal nor evidentiary arguments warrant judgment as a matter of law or a new trial.”