Cox Communications, Inc. v. Sony Music Entertainment · ¶52

The Copyright Act does not expressly provide for secondary liability. See Sony Corp. of America v. Universal City Studios, Inc., 464 U. S. 417, 434 (1984). Still, this Court has recognized that there are two types of secondary liability under the Copyright Act: vicarious and contributory liability. See ibid. The former attaches when a party has control over another's infringing activity and fails to stop it, and the latter attaches when a party materially contributes in some way to another's infringement. See Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. v. Grokster, Ltd., 545 U. S. 913, 930 (2005); see also Gershwin Publishing Corp. v. Columbia Artists Mgmt., Inc., 443 F. 2d 1159, 1162 (CA2 1971) (discussing vicarious and contributory liability). This case comes to the Court with only contributory liability remaining at issue.

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