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State Higher Ed Entities Face Arm-of-the-State Test

Client Alert | less than 1 min read | 06.25.12

In US ex rel. Oberg v. Ky. Higher Educ., the Fourth Circuit considered whether corporate entities created by several states to provide higher education financing (and accused of making false claims to DOE) are "persons" subject to FCA liability. The court stated that "the critical inquiry is whether [the entities] are truly subject to sufficient state control to render them a part of the state, and not a 'person,'" and instructed that Eleventh Amendment "arm-of-the-state" analysis applies to determine if they are subject to liability.


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Client Alert | 4 min read | 04.01.26

Supreme Court Rejects “Mere Knowledge” Standard for Contributory Copyright Infringement in Cox v. Sony, Reverses $1 Billion Judgment Against Cox

On March 25, 2026, in Cox Communications, Inc. v. Sony Music Entertainment, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed a $1 billion verdict against Cox. The judgment was the result of a jury trial in which Sony claimed that Cox was liable for contributory copyright infringement because it knew that its customers were using its service to infringe yet did not respond with sufficient diligence to prevent that infringement....