The U.S. Supreme Court announced it will take on a landmark copyright case between Cox Communications and the music industry that has been bouncing between courts since 2018.
The suit was originally brought against Cox in 2018 by a group of over 50 music companies – including major labels Universal, Warner and Sony and their publishing arms – over whether Cox was allowing its internet customers to download music illegally.
A jury originally found in favor of the music companies in 2019, awarding them $1 billion in damages. That decision was partially overturned on appeal last year. The appeals court wrote in its ruling that while Cox was still on the hook for “willful contributory infringement,” it reversed “the vicarious liability verdict,” calling “for a new trial on damages because Cox did not profit from its subscribers’ acts of infringement, a legal prerequisite for vicarious liability.”
Specifically, the music companies originally accused Cox of ignoring notices sent to it regarding its customers’ copyright infringements and of allowing those customers to continue using its internet service despite the notices. “The amount is unjust and excessive,” Cox responded at the time.
In a statement to Variety, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) reacted to the Supreme Court news, first reported by Reuters. “We are confident that on full review of the record, the Court – like the trial and appellate courts did before it – will find that Cox’s willful failure to follow well-settled law contributed to massive infringement of the plaintiffs’ copyrights and will return the case to the trial court for final determination of damages.”
Similar cases have been filed against a number of U.S. internet providers, but the eye-watering verdict against Cox made it stand out among them.
“Congress made ISPs immune from monetary liability if they act with a modicum of responsibility – namely, that they impose real consequences on users who repeatedly violate creators’ rights,” continued the RIAA statement.
The Supreme Court will hear the case over its October term.
