Widener University Commonwealth Law School
MONTH-IN-BRIEF (Mar 2024)
Fourth Circuit’s Ruling in Sony Music v. Cox Communications and ISP Liability
By Brian Jones, J.D. Candidate, Class of 2026, University of Chicago
In Sony Music Entertainment v. Cox Communications Inc., Sony (along with other record companies and music publishers) sued the defendant internet service provider (ISP) for not adequately policing its users for violating copyright law by pirating music. On February 20, 2024, the Fourth Circuit held that Cox was contributorily liable but not vicariously liable. On March 19, the court declined to rehear the case en banc. The Fourth Circuit’s reasoning is discussed below:
Cox does not qualify for the DMCA’s Safe Harbor Provision
Under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), ISPs are not liable for the copyright infringement of their users if they adopt a termination policy for repeat infringers. In this case, Sony Music and other record companies hired the anti-piracy company MarkMonitor to notify ISPs when users were infringing their copyright by pirating music online. The court held that Cox’s policy was inadequate under the DMCA because the company resisted terminating infringers in order to continue collecting their subscription payments.