Google’s ‘Cox’ Pivot Moots Publishers’ Discovery Ask, Court Says

May 11, 2026, 7:28 PM UTC

Google LLC ditching a safe harbor defense after a US Supreme Court ruling nullifies textbook publishers’ bid to see third-party Digital Millennium Copyright Act notices, a New York federal judge said.

The tech giant, accused of profiting from AdSense ads for counterfeit textbooks, pivoted after the high court tightened liability for contributory infringement in a case involving an ISPs and the music industry. That move negated the need for the publishers to see DMCA compliance evidence because the law itself says failure to qualify for the safe harbor doesn’t affect other defenses, the US District Court for the Southern District ...

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