Cox Communications Secures Historic Supreme Court Victory in Internet Copyright Case

On March 25, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 9-0 in favor of Cox Communications in a landmark decision on secondary copyright liability, reversing the Fourth Circuit's ruling that held that Cox was liable for contributory copyright infringement based on its customers' music piracy.

The Supreme Court's decision represents a resounding win for Cox at the end of a six-year copyright battle, following its success vacating the $1 billion jury verdict before the Fourth Circuit.

The ruling, which delivers a major victory to Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and bears profound implications across the tech industry and beyond, was covered by Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Axios, CNN, Fox News, CBS, Reuters, Washington Post and others.

THE CASE

• Sony Music Entertainment and other music companies sued Cox - one of the nation's largest ISPs - for contributory and vicarious copyright infringement involving more than 10,000 copyrighted works.
• In 2019, a Virginia jury returned a $1 billion verdict in the music companies' favor, finding Cox liable on both theories and that the infringement was willful.
• The Fourth Circuit affirmed the contributory infringement verdict but reversed the vicarious liability finding and ordered the district court to recalculate damages. The court vacated the $1 billion verdict and ordered a new trial on damages.
• Both Sony and Cox appealed the Fourth Circuit's decision to the U.S. Supreme Court, which granted certiorari only to Cox's petition, agreeing to take up the issue of contributory infringement.

THE DECISION

• In an opinion delivered by Justice Clarence Thomas and joined by six other justices, the Court held: "Under our precedents, a company is not liable as a copyright infringer for merely providing a service to the general public with knowledge that it will be used by some to infringe copyrights."
• The decision limits contributory liability to only two forms of conduct - encouraging someone to infringe or selling them a service tailored to aid infringement - and closes the door to other, more expansive theories of liability.
• The opinion represents the first time since 2005 that the Court has addressed the application of secondary liability for copyright infringement.

THE IMPACT

• The ruling establishes clear and fundamental limits on copyright liability for platforms and technology providers in connection with their users.
• The holding provides welcome clarification for the entire tech industry and will have immediate and lasting consequences for market players, from social media platforms to AI innovators and beyond.

THE ORRICK TEAM

The Orrick team representing Cox Communications is led by Josh Rosenkranz and includes Chris Cariello, Alex Bursak, Abby Colella, Ed Williams, Kamilyn Choi, Gavin McGimpsey, Rachel Shalev and Amy Gerrish.