Supreme Court Grapples With ISP Copyright Dispute

'We are being put to two extremes here... How do we announce a rule that deals with those two extremes?'

Jake Neenan

Dec 1, 2025 — 4 min read

Photo of (from left), Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, Supreme Court Associate Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson, at the inauguration of President Donald Trump in January 2025 by Chip Somodevilla/Pool via AP

WASHINGTON, Dec. 1, 2025 – Supreme Court justices appeared reluctant Monday to agree with record labels that broadband providers can face liability for not cutting the connections of repeat pirates.

At the same time, justices said they worried affirming Cox’s argument would leave too little accountability for ISPs.

The high court heard oral arguments Monday in Cox Communications v. Sony Music Entertainment, in which Cox argued that, as long as the company don’t specifically encourage users to infringe, ISPs should face no liability at all for keeping repeat offenders online.

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Copyright Cox Communications Sony Supreme Court Sonia Sotomayor Amy Coney Barrett malcom stewart Ketanji Brown Jackson Neil Gorsuch Samuel Alito Joshua Rosenkranz Brett Kavanaugh Elana Kagan Paul Clement

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