Justice Department Supports Cox in Copyright Case

WASHINGTON, May 28, 2025 – The Supreme Court is being asked to take a copyright infringement case that threatens broadband ISPs with billion-dollar penalties. The Trump Justice Department this week urged the Court to take the case, arguing ISPs should be largely shielded from liability for online music piracy committed by their broadband subscribers.

“The court of appeals’ decision holding Cox liable departs from this Court’s contributory-infringement precedents,” Solicitor General John Sauer wrote in a brief filed Tuesday night. 

The case stems from a 2018 suit brought by more than 50 record labels, who sued Cox for not taking subscribers offline fast enough after being notified they repeatedly pirated songs. A Virginia jury issued a $1 billion verdict against Cox, which the Fourth Circuit tossed out last year. 

The court said Cox didn’t profit directly from the piracy, which nixed the massive penalty, but agreed that Cox was still liable because it was notified of the subscribers’ offenses but didn’t cut their connections.

Cox, which is in the process of being acquired by cable giant Charter, counts more then 6 million broadband subscribers. About 57,000 of them were alleged to have pirated music in the case.

Both Cox and Sony Music Entertainment, which led the record labels, went to the Supreme Court. Cox wanted justices to reject any liability, while the music industry wanted to reopen the door to a significant fine. Back in November, the high court asked the Justice Department to weigh in on whether they should take the case.

In asking justices to take up the case, the Justice Department took Cox’s side in the debate. DOJ argued the Fourth Circuit decision would open ISPs up to lawsuits and cause them to cut lines prematurely to avoid fines.

The decision “might encourage providers to avoid substantial monetary liability by terminating subscribers after receiving a single notice of alleged infringement,” Sauer wrote, “because a single internet connection might be used by an entire family – or, in the case of coffee shops, hospitals, universities, and the like, by hundreds of downstream users – the decision below could cause numerous non-infringing users to lose their internet access.”

As for Sony’s request that justices reverse the Fourth Circuit’s decision that Cox didn’t benefit financially from the piracy and reopen the door to a major fine, the Justice Department urged the Supreme Court to deny the petition.

“That holding is correct and does not warrant this Court’s review,” Sauer wrote.

Sauer served as a federal prosecutor and Missouri's solicitor general, and was President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer. He represented Trump in the presidential immunity case last year.

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals found last year that a Texas ISP was liable for copyright infringement by its customers, but also threw out a fine it said was excessive. In that case, judges said the provider didn't have a procedure for dealing with repeat offenders. Cox claims it dealt with infringement notices by sending email warnings and sometimes suspending or discontinuing service if they persisted.