Solicitor General Urges SCOTUS to Take Up Cox Petition
The federal government is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to take up Cox Communications' cert petition challenging an appellate court affirmation of a jury's finding of willful contributory copyright infringement by the ISP (see 2408160034). In an amicus brief Tuesday…
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(docket 24-171), the U.S. solicitor general said there's an appellate court split over the issue of whether an ISP materially contributes to copyright infringement by continuing to provide internet access to subscribers after receiving notice that they're infringing copyright. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision holding Cox liable departs from SCOTUS' contributory-infringement precedents, the brief said. It also urged the high court to grant review of Cox's petition questioning when a contributory infringer can be held liable for enhanced statutory damages based on a finding of “willful” infringement. The jury in the Cox case was mistakenly told it could find Cox's violations willful even if Cox reasonably believed that not opting to cut off infringing subscribers' internet access was consistent with the Copyright Act, the solicitor general said. In docket 24-181, however, the brief called for SCOTUS to deny review of the vicarious liability question in the plaintiff/respondent music labels' petition. The solicitor general said the 4th Circuit correctly held that a plaintiff's vicarious infringement allegation must show the defendant profited from the infringement.