Strike 3 Holdings, LLC v. John Doe subscriber assigned IP address 98.45.227.216
- Edward Chen
- 3:23-cv-02532
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 3
In Strike 3 Holdings v. John Doe, Judge Chen granted limited early discovery by allowing a subpoena to identify the subscriber.
Strike 3 Holdings, LLC may subpoena Comcast Cable for John Doe’s name and address. John Doe may challenge the subpoena or seek permission to proceed anonymously, and Comcast Cable must follow the response and production deadlines in the order.
What happened
In Strike 3 Holdings, LLC v. John Doe Subscriber Assigned IP Address 98.45.227.216, Strike 3 alleged that John Doe used BitTorrent to infringe 27 motion pictures. Strike 3 asked to subpoena Comcast Cable before the usual early-case conference to learn Doe’s name and address.
The court granted the application. Strike 3 may immediately serve the subpoena, but the information may be used only to serve Doe and pursue the claims in the complaint. Doe has 30 days after service to challenge the subpoena or ask to proceed anonymously, and Strike 3 may not publicly disclose identifying information before that request is decided.
Judge Edward M. Chen also stated that the order did not prevent Doe from seeking dismissal or prejudge such a motion. The order disposed of Strike 3’s application.
The detailed version
- Strike 3 Holdings, LLC v. John Doe subscriber assigned IP address 98.45.227.216 · No. 3:23-cv-02532
- Edward Chen
- June 20, 2023
Background
Strike 3 Holdings, LLC filed a copyright-infringement action against John Doe. Strike 3 alleged that Doe infringed 27 of its motion pictures using BitTorrent. Because Doe was identified in the caption only by the internet-protocol address 98.45.227.216, Strike 3 asked for permission to serve Comcast Cable with a subpoena before the parties held the conference ordinarily required early in a federal case.
Strike 3’s supporting materials included evidence that the IP address participated in uploading part of a file associated with one of its works, that the files were identical, strikingly similar, or substantially similar to Strike 3’s motion pictures, that Comcast Cable owned the IP address at the relevant time, and that the address traced to San Jose, California.
Ruling
The court granted Strike 3’s ex parte application for limited early discovery. It ordered that Strike 3 could immediately serve a subpoena under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 45 on Comcast Cable to obtain Doe’s true name and address. Strike 3 had to attach the order to the subpoena, and any information Comcast disclosed could be used only to serve Doe and prosecute the claims in the complaint.
Comcast Cable would have 30 days from service to respond under the order. Doe would have 30 days from service upon him to file motions contesting the subpoena. If Doe did not challenge the subpoena during that period, Comcast would have to produce the responsive information within 10 days. Strike 3 could not publicly disclose Doe’s identifying information until Doe had an opportunity to ask to proceed anonymously and the court ruled on that request. Doe could file that request under seal.
Important Limits
Judge Edward M. Chen stated that allowing limited early discovery did not prevent Doe from filing a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim and did not prejudge such a motion. The court also reminded Strike 3 that, after obtaining Doe’s name and address, it would have an obligation under Rule 11 to decide whether to continue the lawsuit. The order disposed of Docket No. 7.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.