The Supreme Court agreed to hear a case brought by Cox Communications over whether it should be held liable for music piracy by its users.
The case could have a major impact on how online piracy is policed, long a source of frustration among content creators who have pressed tech companies, internet providers and others to take greater steps to curb infringement.
A federal appellate court last year found Cox liable for “willful contributory infringement,” but overturned a verdict for “vicarious” liability and sent a jury’s award of $1 billion in damages back to a district court for a new trial.
Major record labels, including Sony, had sued Cox over infringement by its subscribers from 2013 to 2014.
Todd Smith, a spokesperson for Cox said in a statement, “We are pleased the U.S. Supreme Court has decided to address these significant copyright issues that could jeopardize internet access for all Americans and fundamentally change how internet service providers manage their networks.”
The Supreme Court declined to hear the record labels appeal of their portion of the case. They had challenged the appellate court’s opinion that, in determining vicarious liability, the labels have to show that Cox directly profited from the copyright infringement.
In its petition to the Supreme Court, Cox called the appellate ruling “draconian.” “At themusic industry’s urging, the Fourth Circuit held that Petitioner Cox Communications—which provides internet service to millions of homes and businesses— must either terminate internet connections previously used for infringement or else face liability for any future infringement,” Cox’s legal team wrote.
The labels’ legal team wrote in their petition, “The Fourth Circuit’s requirement that the defendant profit directly from the act of infringement itself— as opposed to profiting from the operation in which infringement occurs—stands opposite to the rest of the field. Every other circuit to have considered the question has employed a different approach to the profit requirement, asking instead whether the defendant profits from the operation in which infringement occurs.”
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