SCOTUS Takes Up Cox Communications' Piracy Cert Petition
The U.S. Supreme Court said Monday it would hear Cox Communications' challenge of a 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision regarding willful contributor copyright infringement. Cox filed a cert petition in August (docket 24-171) over the 4th Circuit upholding a lower court's copyright infringement finding against Cox for the piracy of some of its internet subscribers (see 2408160034). Cox argued there was now a circuit court split over willfulness standards in secondary-infringement cases. The cert petition had been challenged by music label plaintiffs in the original litigation (see 2410160045).
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Communications Daily is required reading for senior executives at top telecom corporations, law firms, lobbying organizations, associations and government agencies (including the FCC). Join them today!
The case "marks an important opportunity for the Court to provide clarity, create a commonsense legal framework, and protect an open, affordable, and reliable internet,” ACA Connects President Grant Spellmeyer said. “Broadband providers look forward to their day in court to address legal overreach on music copyright infringement that could fundamentally change the internet as we know it.” DeWitt intellectual property lawyer Eli Van Camp wrote that with so much copyright litigation based on online activity, "this raises interesting questions about whether [ISPs] will become more frequent defendants."
The case "could force your Internet service provider to spy on you and cut connections for hospitals and schools," wrote John Perrino, a senior policy and advocacy expert for the Internet Society. While Sony and other music copyright holders that sued Cox claim that only 32 subscriber accounts were terminated for copyright infringement, most of the infringing accounts "were 'shared access points' like hotels, hospitals, universities or coffee shops with thousands of users," he said. "Is an Internet service provider supposed to cut off access for a hospital or university because someone downloaded a song?" The case also has online privacy and security implications, as it would encourage ISPs to monitor online behavior even more closely "and proactively over-block websites and content to avoid liability."
SCOTUS denied a related cert petition by the music labels concerning a circuit court split over how a defendant must benefit from direct copyright infringement to be vicariously liable (docket 24-181).