Strike 3 Holdings, LLC v. Doe
- James Oetken
- 1:25-cv-01286
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In Strike 3 Holdings v. Doe, Judge Oetken allowed expedited discovery from Verizon to identify the defendant, with safeguards protecting Doe’s privacy.
Strike 3 Holdings, LLC may seek Doe’s identifying information from Verizon. John Doe may challenge the subpoena or request anonymous proceedings within 60 days after receiving notice, and Verizon must preserve the information and withhold it while a timely challenge is pending.
What happened
Strike 3 Holdings, LLC sued John Doe, identified by an internet protocol address, alleging that Doe distributed Strike 3’s copyrighted movies. Because the movies contain pornographic material, the court recognized a risk that an incorrect identification could cause embarrassment or pressure to settle.
Strike 3 asked to obtain Doe’s name and address from Verizon Internet Services before serving Doe. The court found good cause for this discovery because Strike 3 could not otherwise identify or serve Doe, but it also noted that the subscriber assigned an internet address is not necessarily the person who infringed the copyright.
The court allowed Strike 3 to issue Verizon a subpoena for Doe’s name and current and permanent address. Judge Oetken required Verizon to notify Doe, gave Doe and Verizon 60 days to challenge the subpoena or request anonymous proceedings, barred disclosure during that period or while a challenge was pending, and limited any disclosed information to protecting Strike 3’s rights in the lawsuit.
The detailed version
- Strike 3 Holdings, LLC v. Doe · No. 1:25-cv-01286
- James Oetken
- Mar. 10, 2025
Background
Strike 3 Holdings, LLC alleged that unidentified defendant John Doe distributed Strike 3’s copyrighted movies in violation of the Copyright Act. The opinion states that the movies contain pornographic material. Strike 3 sought permission to obtain expedited discovery—information gathered before the normal discovery schedule—from Verizon Internet Services, the internet service provider associated with the listed internet protocol address. The requested information was Doe’s name and address.
Court’s analysis
The court found good cause to permit some expedited discovery because Strike 3 could not identify Doe or serve the lawsuit without it. The court explained that federal law generally prevented Verizon, as a cable operator, from disclosing Doe’s identity without a court-ordered subpoena.
The court also emphasized that the person associated with an internet protocol address is not necessarily the person who committed the alleged infringement. Someone else with access to the connection, such as a child, neighbor, or houseguest, could have been responsible. The court found that this created a real risk of falsely identifying someone and subjecting that person to unwarranted allegations or pressure to settle. It concluded that the pornographic subject matter increased the risk of coercive settlements and justified procedural protections.
Order
The court ordered that Strike 3 may immediately serve Verizon with a subpoena under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 45 seeking Doe’s name and current and permanent address. Strike 3 must attach the order to the subpoena and immediately serve the order on Verizon. Verizon must serve the order on Doe using a reasonable method, including first-class or overnight mail to Doe’s last known address.
Doe has 60 days after service of the order to file a motion challenging the subpoena, including a request to cancel or change it, or to ask to litigate the subpoena anonymously. Verizon may not disclose Doe’s identifying information before that period ends. If Doe or Verizon files a motion challenging the subpoena, Verizon may not disclose information until the court resolves the issues and orders disclosure to resume. If no timely challenge is filed, Verizon has 10 days after the 60-day period to produce the requested information.
The court also ordered Verizon to preserve subpoenaed information while any timely challenge is pending, confer with Strike 3, and not charge a fee before providing the information. Any production-cost charge must be supported by a billing summary and cost report. Information disclosed under the subpoena may be used only to protect Strike 3’s rights stated in the complaint. The Clerk was directed to close the motion at ECF No. 6. This order addressed discovery and protective procedures; it did not decide whether Doe infringed Strike 3’s copyrights.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.