US Supreme Court: Cox not liable for user piracy
March 25, 2026
The US Supreme Court has ruled that Cox Communications cannot be held liable for piracy by its internet service subscribers of songs owned by Sony Music ending their billion-dollar-plus music copyright lawsuit.
The 9-0 ruling overturned a lower court’s decision to order a new trial to determine how much the ISP owed the record labels for a form of liability called contributory copyright infringement. Cox said a retrial could have produced a verdict against the ISP of as much as $1.5 billion (€1.3bn).
Reuters reports more than 50 labels joined together to sue Cox in 2018. Internet service providers like Cox are generally not considered liable under US law for infringement by their users if they take reasonable measures to address it. But the labels accused Cox of failing to respond to thousands of infringement notices, cut off internet access for repeat infringers or take other piracy-deterrence steps.
A jury in Virginia in 2019 found that Cox owed the labels $1 billion for user infringement of more than 10,000 copyrights. The jury found Cox liable both for contributory infringement and vicarious infringement. The Virginia-based 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals threw out the damages award in 2024. The 4th Circuit ordered a retrial on the award’s size after affirming the jury’s finding of contributory infringement but reversing its finding of vicarious liability.
Contributory infringement involves holding parties liable for someone else’s infringement because they knew about it and contributed to it. Vicarious infringement involves holding parties liable for someone else’s infringement because they had the ability to control the infringement and benefited financially from it.
Cox argued that the position taken by the labels in the case would expand the concept of contributory infringement too broadly. Cox said this stance would threaten to cut off access for thousands of innocent internet users.
The Supreme Court heard arguments in the case in December 2025. A lawyer for US President Donald Trump’s administration argued in support of Cox. Alphabet, Google, Amazon, Microsoft and other internet-focused tech companies supported Cox in the case. Music, film and book industry trade groups backed the labels.
Artists signed to Sony Music include Beyoncé, Adele, Harry Styles (pictured), Travis Scott, Miley Cyrus, SZA, Calvin Harris and Rosalía.
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