Strike 3 Holdings, LLC v. Doe

Background

Strike 3 Holdings, LLC brought a copyright-infringement case against a John Doe defendant whose name and address were not known. According to the plaintiff’s filing, the defendant was identified only by an Internet Protocol address and allegedly used the BitTorrent file-distribution network to infringe the plaintiff’s copyrighted works. The plaintiff said Verizon Fios, the Internet service provider associated with the address, could use its records to identify the subscriber.

Request

Strike 3 Holdings asked for permission to file a motion under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(d)(1) seeking leave to serve a third-party subpoena before the required Rule 26(f) conference. Such a subpoena would seek limited information from Verizon Fios to identify the Doe defendant. The plaintiff also asked the court to postpone any initial Rule 16 scheduling conference until the defendant was identified and served.

The plaintiff argued that it would show good cause for early discovery, including a preliminary showing of copyright infringement, a specific request, the lack of another way to obtain the defendant’s identity, the importance of the information, and the defendant’s allegedly limited expectation of privacy. The opinion contains the plaintiff’s arguments but does not decide whether the plaintiff ultimately proved those points.

Ruling

Judge Edgardo Ramos granted the request and ordered that the plaintiff may file a motion for leave to serve a third-party subpoena. The order did not itself authorize service of the subpoena, identify the Doe defendant, or state a final ruling on the copyright-infringement claims. The opinion also does not state a separate ruling on the request to postpone or avoid scheduling the initial Rule 16 conference.