Music Companies Warn of a “Dead Letter” DMCA
Arguing for the music companies, Paul Clement of Clement & Murphy PLLC said Cox’s interpretation would effectively gut the Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s safe harbor, which protects compliant ISPs from liability.
“If Cox is right,” Clement argued, “they could receive tens of thousands of copyright notices and drop them straight into the trash.” He pointed to trial records showing Cox employees allegedly mocked the DMCA—proof, he said, that the company sought “an extreme rule.”
The publishers accuse Cox of prioritizing profit over compliance, insisting it failed to disconnect serial infringers despite repeated warnings.
Justices Zero In on Cox’s Enforcement Efforts
Justice Sonia Sotomayor signaled skepticism, saying she was “troubled” by claims that Cox “did nothing” in response to infringement alerts—an attitude she suggested may have swayed jurors.
Rosenkranz pushed back sharply. “The notion that Cox did nothing is absurd,” he said, noting that the company invested heavily to build a first-of-its-kind anti-infringement system and sent “hundreds of warnings a day.”
