The Supremes sided with an ISP instead of the music industry, ruling that Cox isn’t responsible for what its users do.
Back in 2018 Sony Music, Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group and dozens of other rightsholders sued Cox, arguing the company ignored over 163,000 infringement notices about subscribers illegally downloading more than 10,000 copyrighted songs.
The labels pointed to evidence that a #Cox manager overseeing piracy compliance told his team to “F the DMCA.”
A jury sided with the labels in 2019, awarding $1 billion. The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals partially overturned that verdict in 2024, throwing out the vicarious liability finding but keeping the contributory infringement ruling and ordering a retrial.
The Supreme Court took up the case last June and has now reversed the remaining contributory liability finding entirely.
Fuck the #DMCA indeed.
https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/25/politics/music-industry-internet-supreme-court

Supreme Court says internet service provider isn’t liable for bootlegged music downloads
In a major loss for the nation’s music industry, the Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that a major internet service provider is not liable for copyright infringement because it failed to kick known copyright violators off its network.