Cox Communications, Inc. v. Sony Music Entertainment, No. 24-171 (U.S. June 30, 2025)

Authors

• Charles DuanFollow

Document Type

Amicus Brief

Publication Date

6-30-2025

Case Name

Cox Communications, Inc. v. Sony Music Entertainment

Abstract

Under the Copyright Act, “[a]nyone who violates any of the exclusive rights of the copyright owner . . . is an infringer of the copyright." 17 U.S.C. §501(a). This Court has also recognized two categories of secondary liability, which means liability for the copyright infringement of another. Those two categories are “contributory” liability and “vicarious” liability. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. v. Grokster, Ltd., 545 U. S. 913, 930. This case concerns contributory liability, which requires that a provider intended its service to be used for infringement. A copyright owner can show the requisite intent in two ways. First, it can show that a party affirmatively induced the infringement. Ibid.  Second, it can show that the party sold a service tailored to infringement. Id., at 942 (Ginsburg, J., concurring). These two bases for contributory liability track patent law.  See 35 U. S. C. §§271(b), (c).

Recommended Citation

Duan, Charles, "Cox Communications, Inc. v. Sony Music Entertainment, No. 24-171 (U.S. June 30, 2025)" (2025). Amicus Briefs & Court Filings. 65.
https://digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu/pub_disc_briefs/65