Supreme Court Rules Cox Not Liable for User Infringement

The Supreme Court ruled unanimously on Wednesday that internet service provider Cox Communications cannot be held liable for copyright infringement by its customers who illegally downloaded music, overturning lower court decisions in a long-running dispute with record labels led by Sony Music Entertainment.

The decision came in a lawsuit filed in 2018, in which Sony and other music labels accused Cox of failing to take sufficient action against repeat infringers among its subscribers. The labels notified Cox about thousands of accounts involved in downloading copyrighted works without permission, but the company did not terminate those users as required under its policies, according to the plaintiffs. The case centered on more than 57,000 Cox customer accounts accused of infringing over 10,000 protected songs.

A federal jury initially found Cox liable for contributory copyright infringement and awarded the labels more than $1 billion in damages. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit vacated the award in 2024, ruling it excessive, but upheld the liability finding on one of the labels' legal theories. That partial victory for the plaintiffs prompted Cox to appeal to the...