U.S. Government Reaffirms Cox Support in Supreme Court Case Against the Major Labels, Moves to Participate in Oral Argument

The Supreme Court Building. Photo Credit: Stephen Talas

The U.S. government has reaffirmed its support for Cox Communications in the ISP’s Supreme Court showdown against the majors – and moved to participate in an upcoming oral argument.

According to the Supreme Court’s October calendar, that oral argument hasn’t yet been scheduled. But when it does take place, the government intends to spend 10 minutes backing Cox’s position, per a newly submitted motion from Solicitor General D. John Sauer.

That will leave the ISP with the remaining 20 minutes, according to the motion, which arrives following briefings from all manner of third parties. And the government, for its part, most recently threw its support behind Cox closer to September’s start.

As spelled out by the corresponding brief and the new oral argument motion alike, the U.S. “has a substantial interest in” protecting IP and “in fostering technological developments.”

“The United States has a substantial interest in the effective protection of intellectual property, which represents a significant portion of the Nation’s economy,” both documents spell out. “At the same time, the United States has a substantial interest in fostering technological developments and beneficial uses of digital technologies and in ensuring the broad availability of critical communications services like the internet.”

With that, it’ll be particularly interesting to track the oral argument and, of course, the result of the overarching case.

At the heart of that case, with implications for many separate-but-similar suits, are questions about ISPs’ liability for subscribers’ alleged copyright infringement. Cox has made a number of arguments since being slapped with a $1 billion jury verdict six years ago, and we’ve covered the litigation’s many twists and turns in detail.

But at the Supreme Court level, the main focus has been on the perceived fallout (for internet companies and the public) of leaving the lower court’s contributory liability ruling in place. Most conspicuously, this refers to the possibility of mass internet-account terminations stemming from providers’ liability-minded responses to infringement notices.

Unsurprisingly, different ISPs – several other internet companies are likewise grappling with music-space infringement claims – have rallied behind Cox.

So have Google, Amazon, and Microsoft, we previously broke down, with different briefs yet having rolled in from the ACLU, the EFF, and many more. Furthermore, copyright complaints against Verizon, Altice, and Google (this action was levied by textbook publishers, not music companies) have all been stayed pending the Supreme Court’s ruling here.

Link to the source article – https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2025/09/24/cox-supreme-court-case-oral-argument/