Supreme Court weighs ISP liability in Cox Communications copyright fight

The U.S. Supreme Court is weighing a copyright case involving Atlanta-based Cox Communications and major entertainment companies, according to a report from Georgia Public Broadcasting.

The lawsuit centers on claims by Sony and other music publishers that Cox failed to adequately stop users from illegally downloading copyrighted material using its internet service. A lower court previously ruled that Cox owed the companies more than $1 billion in damages, a decision now under review by the nation’s highest court.

University of Georgia School of Law professor Thomas Kadri said the justices’ questioning during oral arguments suggested concern about how far liability for internet providers could extend.

“It’s always a little tough to read too much into just the questioning and oral argument,” Kadri told GPB. “But it does seem like there’s some concern with a rule here that would impose broad liability on internet service providers.”

Kadri said that concern is tied less to the specifics of copyright enforcement and more to the potential consequences of such a ruling.

“One of the main concerns that comes from this case are the ripple effects of imposing liability,” he said. “There’s no doubt that there are people using the internet to engage in copyright infringement. 

But the potential ripple effects for the average user of the internet, and how imposing liability on the internet service providers or ISPs could lead the ISPs to block people’s access to the internet, is really driving a lot of the interest in this case.”

Sony argues that Cox did not take sufficient action after receiving repeated notices that customers were infringing on copyrights. Kadri said the entertainment companies maintain that once Cox was alerted, it should have done more to restrict access for users accused of illegal activity.

“They say that they provided notice that there was this illegal activity going on by users that were using Cox’s services,” Kadri said. “Once they had that notice, they needed to do more to block access by the folks who were allegedly infringing.”

The case also raises questions about how liability has been handled in other industries that provide communication infrastructure.

Sony has suggested that Cox could take steps such as throttling internet speeds at locations like universities to curb piracy. Kadri said such measures may be technically possible but could carry significant consequences.

“You would certainly be affecting the way in which more and more people would access the internet,” he said, noting that shared connections at universities, hospitals, airports and other public spaces depend on high-speed service.

The court’s decision could have wide-ranging implications for how internet providers manage user activity and how access to the internet is treated under copyright law.