Aram SinnreichSCOTUS just ruled unanimously that ISPs are not contributorily liable for #copyright infringement just because they don’t terminate internet access for alleged #p2p users.
Just to spell it out for the non-#copyright nerds:
For the past decade, the music industry has been suing ISPs willy-nilly because they don’t *always* cut off people’s internet after being accused of #P2P infringement (though sometimes they do).
An early case, against Cox, got a jury award of $1B.
Nothing in the law says ISPs have to cut off accused infringers. So the record labels have basically been pushing a newer, more extreme theory of secondary liability.
But since their victory in the initial Cox ruling, the labels have seen 🤑 and sued countless ISPs for billions apiece.
Typically, these cases cover one ISP for one region over one span of time, so there are many such cases, each of them for $billions. As in, they’re seeking more in damages than they make from actual music.
And they make a LOT from music. They’re breaking new records each year thanks to streaming.
As they’ve been suing all the other ISPs, the labels’ case against Cox went to the Court of Appeals, and then to SCOTUS.
Today’s SCOTUS ruling, which is *unanimous*, basically calls BS and says ISPs are neither providing piracy tools nor inducing their customers to pirate. So they’re not liable.
p.s. In the interest of full transparency, I have served as an expert witness on behalf of the ISPs in several of these cases.