In March, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in Cox Communications adv. Sony Music Entertainment, in a unanimous opinion authored by judge Clarence Thomas that internet service provider Cox Communications neither induced its users’ infringement of copyrighted works nor provided a service tailored to infringement, and accordingly Cox was not contributorily liable for the infringement of the copyrights of Sony Music and other music labels. The appeal followed a jury trial in 2019 at which Hemming Morse Partner Christian Tregillis testified about economic factors that pertained to an award of statutory damages, where the jury awarded Cox and the other music label parties $1 billion. Of the two causes of action on which the jury had reached its award, vicarious infringement and contributory infringement, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals had overturned the vicarious infringement finding, leaving only contributory infringement for evaluation by the Supreme Court. Factors to which Mr. Tregillis testified included the numbers of infringement notices, by track, that had been sent to Cox, the value of a license to the works at issue, and the effect of removal of Cox as an internet service provider on unauthorized downloads of music.

24-171 Cox Communications, Inc. v. Sony Music Entertainment (03/25/2026)