At stake in this case is how readily speech intermediaries can be held liable for so-called contributory copyright infringement, where the actual infringement is done by third parties. The ACLU’s brief urges the Supreme Court to impose limits on contributory copyright liability for speech intermediaries such as bookstores, social media platforms, or – in this case – an internet service provider (ISP), because broad liability could have serious chilling effects for free expression.
In 2018, a group of music labels, led by Sony Music Entertainment, sued Cox Communications, an ISP with users across the country. The suit accused the company of contributing to individual internet users’ infringement of the labels’ copyrights by illegally downloading and distributing pirated content. A jury awarded Sony a billion dollars in copyright damages, and Cox appealed to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn the ruling. The 4th Circuit upheld the jury’s finding of contributory copyright liability. Now, the Supreme Court will review that holding, with oral arguments scheduled to be heard on December 1, 2025.
The brief urges the Court to consider the chilling effect the Fourth Circuit’s holding has on First Amendment-protected speech, because it essentially obligates internet service providers to terminate entire accounts whenever a copyright holder makes an unsubstantiated allegation of infringement.
To accommodate these concerns, it urges the Court to adopt material contribution requirements for copyright liability that parallel the contributory liability test it adopted in Twitter, Inc. v. Taamneh, recognizing the importance of appropriately calibrating between copyright holders’ interests and avoiding the chilling of protected speech on the internet. I n a time where most Americans have a single choice for who provides their internet service, the public’s right to a free and open internet should not be suppressed by such a provider’s fear of potentially bankrupting copyright lawsuits.
Amici are the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Virginia, and the Center for Democracy and Technology.
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‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.aclu.org ’
