Supreme Court sides with Cox, deals blow to Sony's copyright campaign against ISPs

In a unanimous decision on March 25, 2025, the Supreme Court ruled in Cox Communications v. Sony Music Entertainment that internet service providers are not liable for their customers' copyright infringement unless they actively induce or tailor their services for illegal use. The ruling overturned a $1 billion jury verdict against Cox and rejected Sony's argument that Cox should have terminated repeat infringers' accounts. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote the opinion, emphasizing that contributory infringement requires "culpable intent"—simply providing a neutral service that can be used for both legal and illegal purposes is not enough. The decision has already led record labels Warner and Universal to drop similar lawsuits against Verizon and Altice.

The ruling's impact extends far beyond ISPs. Attorney Christopher Cariello, who represented Cox, noted that the decision applies to "any technology provider" in the vast Internet ecosystem. Companies like Google, Meta, X, and Nvidia have already cited the ruling in their defenses against contributory infringement claims. AI companies may particularly benefit, since large language models can be used for many non-infringing activities and aren't specifically tailored for copyright violation. The decision also shields YouTube-to-MP3 converters like Yout, as long as they don't intentionally induce infringement. Sony's loss ironically stems from its own 1984 victory in the Betamax case, which established that technology with substantial non-infringing uses is not inherently illegal.