There was a major US Supreme Court decision regarding music piracy this week

There was a BIG decision by the US Supreme Court this week. In a unanimous 9-0 ruling, an internet provider was left off the hook when it comes to connecting people with music pirates. The story goes like this.

Fifty-three music companies, including the three major labels and a bunch of music publishers, sued Cox Communications in 2018. The allegation was that Cox ignored tens of thousands of notices regarding music pirates using their internet network. Cox, they say, helped 60,000 of their customers steal and distribute 10,000 copyrighted works for free.

In that case, Cox was fined US$99,830.29 for each infringement. That totals about US$1 billion.

Cox said this was crazy. If this were enforced, all internet providers would be compelled to cut loose account holders like universities, colleges, hospitals, and even whole communities to avoid even more lawsuits.

In 2024, another court ruled that a billion-dollar fine was ridiculous and that a new trial was needed. From there, it was kicked up to the Supreme Court. And here we are.

Cox Communications was ruled NOT liable for music piracy in a case brought by record labels. This means internet providers are NOT liable for illegal things that happen on their networks.

Justice Clarence Thomas wrote this:

“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. Accordingly, we reverse.

“Cox provided internet service to its subscribers, but it did not intend for that service to be used to commit copyright infringement. Holding Cox liable merely for failing to terminate internet service to infringing accounts would expand secondary copyright liability beyond our precedents.”

The music companies aren’t happy, obviously. But internet providers across the US are breathing a sigh of relief.

Read more here.