Supreme Court sides with Cox Communications in a copyright fight with record labels over downloads

The Supreme Court has sided with internet service provider Cox Communications in its copyright fight with record labels over illegal music downloads by Cox customers. The justices ruled unanimously Wednesday that Cox bears no liability for the copyright violations of its customers. The court acted in a lawsuit led by Sony Music Entertainment that said Cox didn’t do enough to deter or cut off customers who downloaded music they didn’t pay for. Justice Clarence Thomas acknowledged that the record labels “have struggled to protect their copyrights in the age of online music sharing.” Cox is praising the court for affirming that internet service providers "are not copyright police.”