Last Wednesday, the Supreme Court reversed a billion-dollar copyright verdict against Cox Communications, an Internet service provider (ISP) that continued providing service to subscribers it knew were infringing copyrights. Sony Music Entertainment had sued Cox instead of the people infringing on their copyrights. A lower court had found Cox was itself liable for copyright infringement—specifically “contributory” liability—because it continued to provide known infringers with Internet access, and awarded Sony $1 billion in damages.
Justice Clarence Thomas wrote the opinion, ruling that suing ISPs is not the path forward for copyright enforcement on the Internet—a decision with obvious implications for future disputes between copyright holders and AI companies.
For every major IP holder in Hollywood except one, this ruling is a problem. For the Ellisons, it is confirmation of their bet on cloud infrastructure.
