Sony's failed war against Internet piracy may doom other copyright lawsuits

"The Supreme Court ruled that cable Internet firm Cox is not liable under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) when its customers use their broadband connections to download or upload pirated materials. Music copyright holders claimed that once Cox was informed that specific users repeatedly infringed copyrights, it should have terminated their accounts. A jury agreed with Sony in 2019, hitting Cox with a $1 billion verdict. While the damages award was overturned by an appeals court in 2024, that court gave Sony a partial win by finding that Cox was guilty of contributory copyright infringement-a type of secondary liability for contributing to others' infringement."

"In Cox Communications v. Sony Music Entertainment, the Supreme Court ruled that Cox is not liable under the DMCA when its customers use their broadband connections to download or upload pirated materials. The court found that Cox isn't liable for its customers' misdeeds because it did not induce them to infringe copyrights and did not "tailor" the broadband service so that it could be used for infringement. The court took up its case and unanimously ruled in its favor on March 25 of this year."

"The Cox decision was also a loss for record labels Warner and Universal, which joined Sony in the case. The record labels reacted to the ruling by dropping similar cases against ISPs such as Verizon and Altice. and the impact may be felt well beyond the broadband industry. "I think it applies to any technology provider" Several defendants offering other"

The Supreme Court ruled that Cox Communications is not liable under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act for copyright infringement committed by its broadband customers. The ruling rejected the claim that once a provider is informed about repeated infringement by specific users, the provider must terminate accounts. The Court found Cox did not induce customers to infringe and did not tailor its broadband service to facilitate infringement. The decision overturned a prior $1 billion verdict and removed the basis for liability tied to contributory infringement. Record labels dropped similar cases against other internet service providers, and the reasoning may extend to other technology providers whose services can be used for both lawful and unlawful purposes.

Read at Ars Technica