Strike 3 Holdings, LLC v. Doe

Background

Strike 3 Holdings, LLC brought a copyright-infringement case against a defendant identified as John Doe. The opinion says that the defendant’s name and address were not known to Strike 3. Strike 3 alleged that the internet protocol address assigned to the defendant had been used repeatedly to infringe copyrighted works through the BitTorrent file-distribution network.

Strike 3 identified Spectrum as the internet service provider that could use the internet protocol address, along with its records, to identify the subscriber. Strike 3 also stated that providers generally keep those assignment records for only a short time.

Request

Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(d)(1), discovery ordinarily cannot begin before the parties’ Rule 26(f) conference unless the court allows it. Strike 3 asked for leave to file a third-party subpoena seeking the defendant’s identity before that conference. Strike 3’s submission argued that early discovery was justified because it would present an initial showing of copyright infringement, make a specific request, show that the information was central and unavailable by other means, and address the defendant’s limited privacy interest.

Strike 3 also requested that any initial scheduling conference be postponed until the defendant was identified and served.

Ruling and effect

The court granted the request for leave to file a third-party subpoena before the Rule 26(f) conference. The order does not itself identify the Doe defendant or state that Spectrum must produce information. The court stated that there were no pending dates to adjourn, so it did not postpone a currently scheduled conference. It referred the remainder of the pretrial issues to Magistrate Judge Sarah L. Cave.