UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SECOND CIRCUIT

August Term 2023

(Argued: October 12, 2023 Decided: January 13, 2025)

Docket Nos. 21-2949(L), 21-2974(Con)

_____________________________________

CAPITOL RECORDS, LLC, a Delaware Limited Liability company, CAROLINE RECORDS, INC., a New York Corporation, VIRGIN RECORDS AMERICA, INC., a California Corporation, EMI BLACKWOOD MUSIC INC., a Connecticut Corporation, EMI APRIL MUSIC INC., a Connecticut Corporation, EMI VIRGIN MUSIC, INC., a New York Corporation, COLGEMS-EMI MUSIC, INC., a Delaware Corporation, EMI VIRGIN SONGS, INC., a New York Corporation, EMI GOLD HORIZON MUSIC CORP., a New York Corporation, EMI UNART CATALOG INC., a New York Corporation, STONE DIAMOND MUSIC CORPORATION, a Michigan Corporation, EMI U CATALOG INC., a New York Corporation, JOBETE MUSIC CO., INC., a Michigan Corporation,

Plaintiff-Appellants,

v.

VIMEO, INC., a Delaware Limited Liability company, AKA VIMEO.COM, CONNECTED VENTURES, LLC, a Delaware Limited Liability company,

Defendant-Appellees, DOES, 1-20 INCLUSIVE,

Defendants. _____________________________________ Before:

LEVAL, PARKER, and MERRIAM, Circuit Judges.

Plaintiffs, rightsholders of musical recordings, all affiliates of EMI, appeal from the judgment of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (Ronnie Abrams, J.) granting summary judgment to defendants, Vimeo, Inc. and Connected Ventures, LLC (collectively “Vimeo”), dismissing Plaintiffs’ claims of copyright infringement on the ground that Vimeo is entitled to the safe harbor provided by Section 512(c) of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”), 17 U.S.C. § 512(c), which, in certain circumstances, protects internet service providers from liability for infringement when users of the service upload infringing material onto the providers’ websites. The district court rejected Plaintiffs’ contention that Vimeo had actual or red flag knowledge of the infringement or the right and ability to control the infringing activity, and therefore lost entitlement to the safe harbor.

AFFIRMED.

CATHERINE E. STETSON (Nathaniel A.G. Zelinsky, Hogan Lovells, US LLP, Washington, D.C.; Russell J. Frackman, Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp LLP, Los Angeles, CA, on the brief), Hogan Lovells US LLP, Washington, D.C., for Plaintiff- Appellants.

KATHLEEN M. SULLIVAN (Todd Anten, Owen F. Roberts, Quinn Emanuel

2 Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP, New York, NY; Michael A. Cheah, Vimeo, Inc. & Rachel Kassabian, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP, Redwood Shores, CA, on the brief), Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP, Los Angeles, California, for Defendant-Appellees. Hyland Hunt, Ruthanne M. Deutsch, Alexandra Mansbach, Deutsch Hunt PLLC, Washington, DC, for amici curiae, National Music Publishers’ Association, Recording Industry Association of America, and Copyright Alliance, in support of Plaintiffs-Appellants. Matthew C. Schruers, Alexandra Sternburg, Computer & Communications Industry Association, Washington, DC, for amicus curiae, Computer & Communications Industry Association, in support of Defendants- Appellees. Mitchell L. Stoltz, Corynne McSherry, Electronic Frontier Foundation, San Francisco, CA, for a