Elon Musk Goes for the Jugular Against Music Publishers

Photo: Mark Thomas

Last week, the US Supreme Court handed a decisive defeat to major label conglomerates — and a billion-dollar victory to Cox Communications. But this decision is likely to go far beyond Cox and ISPs harboring piracy, with the ripple effects already becoming glaringly apparent.

Actually, forget about ‘ripple effects’ — is the music industry now facing a tsunami of legal ramifications following the Supreme Court’s unanimous 9-0 decision in Cox Communications v. Sony Music Entertainment?

In the moments immediately after the decision dropped, DMN Pro examined whether ISP piracy still matters. It’s a surprisingly complicated question, though it now looks like this decision will go way, way beyond ISP-housed piracy.

Actually, the ominous harbinger in our report came at the end, with USC Thornton School of Music Associate Professor Andrew Leff predicting a major spillover into ongoing copyright fights. “This decision transcends mere ‘ISP liability’; it will be cited hundreds of times in upcoming copyright cases,” Leff predicted, while pointing to a broader erosion in copyright protections.

Just days later, we’re already seeing Leff’s dire prediction coming true.

Look no further than the $250 million copyright infringement battle being waged by the NMPA and 18 music publishers (including the majors Sony, Universal, and Warner) against X in Concord Music Group, Inc., et al. v. X Corp.

There’s also a highly contentious countersuit to go with it, with X leveling monopoly allegations against the well-organized publishing ‘cartel’ while defending its use of copyright works. We’ve been covering this legal battle for years, though Elon’s X now feels it has a very serious upper hand — and even a crushing blow.

As for the backstory here: X has never paid for music, instead arguing that alleged infringement is actually permissible usage under the ‘Safe Harbor’ provisions of the DMCA. But in the wake of the Supreme Court’s gavel drop, X lawyers at Axinn, Veltrop & Harkrider LLP are looking to slam this case shut.

X now argues that a recent 9-0 Supreme Court ruling in a case involving Cox Communications effectively “dooms” the copyright infringement lawsuit brought by major music publishers against the platform.

The logic?

The Supreme Court justices ruled that ISPs and related platforms cannot be held liable for users’ copyright violations unless the service is specifically tailored for infringement or very actively encourages law-breaking piracy. X, which already defeated publishers’ direct infringement claims, now feels it has zero liability for secondary infringement.

“If the Supreme Court had issued this opinion three years ago, X believes this court would have dismissed plaintiffs’ contributory infringement claim in its entirety,” X’s attorneys blasted. “Indeed, virtually every contributory infringement case plaintiffs cited in opposing X’s motion to dismiss — including the Fourth Circuit case on which this court relied — is no longer good law.”

“Under Cox’s inducement-or-tailoring holding, the Court should dismiss this lawsuit.”

See where this one is going?

Throughout Concord v. X — or the X v. NMPA countersuit — Musk’s X has been blasted for slow-walking DMCA takedown requests and failing to ban repeat offenders. That sounds eerily like the accusations leveled against ISPs, and X is now arguing this is no longer “good law” in light of the Supreme Court’s ruling.

Both sides have now agreed to press pause on the evidence discovery process and file refreshed briefs to address the Supreme Court’s decision.

Earlier, barristers told DMN that this was close to a settlement in late 2025, though fragile talks fell apart. Now, there’s a very real danger that the entire case will be dismissed, raising serious questions about whether the industry’s earlier crusade against ISPs was a wise move.

Five minutes ago, the RIAA had Cox over a barrel with a $1 billion infringement decision. Now, the music industry is at risk of losing a pile of infringement lawsuits — with Cox v. Sony cited every single time.

More as this develops.