Strike 3 Holdings, LLC v. John Doe subscriber assigned IP address 98.35.66.114

Background

Strike 3 Holdings, LLC alleged that the unidentified defendant associated with IP address 98.35.66.114 used BitTorrent to download and distribute Strike 3’s copyrighted adult motion pictures. Strike 3 said it owns copyrights registered with the United States Copyright Office and that its detection system downloaded files from the defendant’s IP address. It alleged that the defendant had infringed 483 movies over an extended period.

Strike 3 filed one copyright-infringement claim and sought permission to serve Comcast Cable, a non-party internet-service provider, with a subpoena under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 45. The requested subpoena was limited to the name and addresses of the individual or individuals associated with the IP address.

Analysis

The court applied the good-cause standard used for early discovery before the parties’ required Rule 26(f) conference. It examined whether Strike 3 had: (1) identified the Doe defendant specifically enough to show that the defendant was a real person who could be sued in federal court; (2) described its efforts to locate and identify the defendant; (3) shown that its copyright claim could withstand a motion to dismiss; and (4) shown that the requested discovery was reasonably likely to produce information allowing service of process.

The court found that Strike 3 satisfied all four requirements. It concluded that the allegations identified a potentially identifiable adult who was likely the primary subscriber or someone living with or known to the subscriber. The court also found that the alleged activity had been traced to the Northern District of California, that the IP address alone was not enough to identify the defendant, and that Strike 3 had sufficiently alleged copyright ownership and unauthorized copying and distribution.

Protective Order and Disposition

The court granted Strike 3’s ex parte motion for expedited discovery. It authorized Strike 3 to immediately serve Comcast with a Rule 45 subpoena seeking the Doe defendant’s true name and addresses. Comcast must notify the Doe defendant within 30 days after service. The Doe defendant then has 30 days after receiving notice to file a motion contesting the subpoena, including a motion to quash or modify it. If no timely challenge is filed, Comcast has 10 days to provide the responsive information to Strike 3.

The order also requires preservation of subpoenaed information while any timely challenge is pending. Information disclosed under the subpoena may be used only to protect Strike 3’s rights described in its complaint. Strike 3 may not publicly disclose the information until the Doe defendant has an opportunity to seek permission to proceed anonymously and the court rules on that request. The court further provided for sealed filings if the Doe defendant includes identifying information in such a request.