US Supreme Court backs Cox in fight over pirated music

WASHINGTON: The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday Cox Communications cannot be held liable for piracy by its internet service subscribers of songs owned by Sony Music, Warner Music Group, Universal Music Group and other labels, ending their billion-dollar-plus music copyright lawsuit.

The 9-0 ruling overturned a lower court’s decision to order a new trial to determine how much the internet service provider owed the record ‌labels for a ⁠form of ⁠liability called contributory copyright infringement. Cox had said a retrial could have produced a verdict against the Atlanta-based ISP of as much as $1.5 billion.