Barrios-Contreras v. Big Fish Entertainment LLC

Background

On November 25, 2025, Plaintiff submitted a letter motion seeking an exemption from paying Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) user fees and forgiveness of fees previously incurred. The court treated the request as a motion for a discretionary PACER-fee exemption and fee forgiveness.

Court’s Analysis

The court explained that the Judicial Conference fee schedule provides automatic exemptions. These include one free electronic copy of each document filed electronically through the notice of electronic filing and access to case information and documents through courthouse public-access terminals. The court also noted that a person can access up to $30 in PACER charges per quarter from home without charge.

The court stated that a party cannot rely on eligibility to proceed without paying filing fees alone to obtain a discretionary PACER exemption. Instead, the party must show that additional relief is necessary to avoid unreasonable burdens and promote public access to information. The court found that Plaintiff had not made that showing because she did not provide details about the amount of fees owed, the case was stayed, and no filings were expected other than notice that arbitration had been completed.

The court further stated that it was not assigned Plaintiff’s other referenced matter, Barrios v. Big Fish Entertainment, LLC, et al., No. 25-CV-3203 (JGLC) (SN). Any relief concerning that matter had to be requested on that case’s docket.

Disposition

Judge Henry J. Ricardo ordered that Plaintiff’s letter motion be denied without prejudice to renewal. The Clerk was directed to terminate the motion at ECF No. 94 as denied and mail Plaintiff a copy of the order.