March 26, 2026
AAP Statement on Supreme Court Ruling in Cox Communications vs. Sony Music Entertainment
The U.S. Supreme Court yesterday issued a ruling in the case of Cox Communications vs. Sony Music Entertainment. The following is a statement from Terrence Hart, General Counsel for the Association of American Publishers.
“We join our colleagues in the copyright community in expressing our disappointment and concern about the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Cox Communications v. Sony Music Entertainment. In addition to ignoring its own judgment on secondary liability as the ‘only practical alternative’ to mitigate digital-age copyright infringement, the concurring opinion by Justice Sotomayor correctly states that the majority’s improper narrowing of secondary liability does substantial harm to Congress’s intent with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998. It is one thing to decide that the facts of a particular case do not meet a liability threshold, but a far more problematic issue when the Court ‘artificially limit[s]’ liability standards that have a long foundation in common law. We also agree with those who have observed that this ruling emphasizes the need for the United States to catch up with most of the democratic nations of the world in implementing legislation to block access to pirate sites hosting and distributing copyrighted material.”