4th Circuit Nixes Billion Dollar Copyright Award Against Cox

Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Bros. Records Inc., and other music publishers saw their $1 billion copyright infringement award against cable and internet provider Cox Communications Inc. evaporate at an appeals court Tuesday.

The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit overturned the jury’s verdict that Cox had vicariously infringed more than 10,000 copyrighted works by not preventing its customers from pirating the music. The three-judge panel, however, upheld the jury’s finding of willful contributory infringement.

The appeals court vacated the damages award and directed the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia to conduct a new ...