UGX Brands, LLC v. The City of Norfolk

Background

Defendants The City of Norfolk, Global Music Touring, LLC, Antonio Dowe, and Terrence Thornton asked for permission to file Exhibit D to the Dowe Declaration with one redaction. The proposed redaction covered the amount of the performance fee paid to DJ Envy under an agreement between We Cousinz, LLC and DJ Envy LLC for Raashaun Casey, also known as DJ Envy. The agreement included commercially sensitive terms and a confidentiality clause.

Sealing standard

The court stated that it considers whether the material is a judicial document, the strength of the public-access presumption, and whether competing interests outweigh that presumption. The court had previously ruled that the agreement, which was submitted in support of defendants’ motion to dismiss, was a judicial document subject to a strong presumption of public access.

The court recognized that protecting confidential business information and the privacy interests of non-parties can overcome that presumption. It also noted that courts commonly allow redactions of pricing information. Defendants represented that the fee was treated as confidential, that disclosure could harm the contracting parties’ future negotiations, and that the amount was not relevant to the arguments in the motion to dismiss.

Ruling

Judge Dale E. Ho granted the application because the proposed redaction was sufficiently narrow and concerned only confidential business information of a non-party. The court directed the Clerk to keep ECF No. 70-4 under seal, with access limited to the applicable parties, and to terminate ECF No. 69.