Strike 3 Holdings v. John Doe subscriber assigned IP address 67.188.153.122
- Laurel Beeler
- 3:23-cv-04944
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 8
Strike 3 Holdings v. John Doe; Judge Beeler granted expedited discovery allowing a subpoena to identify the alleged copyright infringer.
Strike 3 Holdings, LLC may subpoena Comcast Cable for identifying information about the Doe defendant. The Doe defendant may challenge the subpoena within the specified period, and Comcast must follow the notice, preservation, and production requirements in the order.
What happened
In Strike 3 Holdings, LLC v. John Doe subscriber assigned IP address 67.188.153.122, Strike 3 alleged that someone using the IP address downloaded and distributed its copyrighted adult movies through BitTorrent. Strike 3 said it could not identify that person from the IP address alone.
Strike 3 asked to subpoena Comcast Cable, the internet provider associated with the IP address, for the subscriber’s name and addresses. The court found good cause for early discovery because Strike 3 had identified a plausible copyright claim, described its efforts to locate the person, and showed that Comcast could likely provide identifying information.
Judge Laurel Beeler granted Strike 3’s ex parte motion for expedited discovery. Strike 3 may immediately serve the subpoena, but the Doe defendant has 30 days after receiving notice to challenge it; disclosed information is subject to limits on public disclosure and use.
The detailed version
- Strike 3 Holdings v. John Doe subscriber assigned IP address 67.188.153.122 · No. 3:23-cv-04944
- Laurel Beeler
- Oct. 19, 2023
Background
Strike 3 Holdings, LLC alleged that the person using Comcast Cable IP address 67.188.153.122 used BitTorrent to download and distribute 28 of Strike 3’s copyrighted adult motion pictures. Strike 3 said it owned registered copyrights in the movies and had detected downloads from the IP address using its VXN Scan system. Strike 3 traced the downloads to a physical address in the Northern District of California but could not identify the individual associated with the IP address.
Strike 3 filed one copyright-infringement claim under the Copyright Act and then asked for permission to serve Comcast with an early third-party subpoena. The subpoena sought only the name and addresses of the individual or individuals associated with the IP address.
Early Discovery Analysis
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(d) allows a court to authorize discovery before the parties’ usual initial discovery conference. The court applied the Ninth Circuit’s “good cause” standard, which considers whether the need for early discovery outweighs potential prejudice to the responding party.
The court found that Strike 3 satisfied four requirements for identifying an unknown defendant:
- Strike 3 identified the Doe defendant with enough specificity for the court to determine that the defendant was likely a real person who could be sued in federal court. The allegations described an individual who directed a BitTorrent client to download and distribute the movies, and the downloads were traced to the district.
- Strike 3 described its efforts to identify the defendant and explained that the IP address alone was insufficient.
- The court found that Strike 3 had sufficiently alleged a direct copyright-infringement claim that could withstand a motion to dismiss. The court noted that Strike 3 alleged ownership of the copyrights and unauthorized copying and distribution of the movies.
- The court found that the requested discovery was reasonably likely to produce information allowing Strike 3 to identify and serve the Doe defendant because Comcast could identify a subscriber through the IP address.
Protective Order
Because the ISP subscriber might not be the person who allegedly infringed the copyrights, and because the allegations involved sensitive and personal subject matter, the court issued a limited protective order. Strike 3 may not publicly disclose information Comcast provides until the Doe defendant has an opportunity to ask to proceed anonymously and the court rules on that request.
If the Doe defendant does not file such a request within 30 days after the information is disclosed to Strike 3’s counsel, the limited protective order will expire. Any identifying information included in an anonymity request may be filed under seal while the court considers the request.
Order
The court granted Strike 3’s ex parte motion for expedited discovery. Strike 3 may immediately serve Comcast with a Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 45 subpoena for the Doe defendant’s true name and addresses, attaching the court’s order.
Comcast must serve the Doe defendant with the subpoena and the order within 30 days after service. The Doe defendant then has 30 days after receiving service 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 produce the responsive information. Comcast must preserve subpoenaed information while any timely motion to quash is resolved.
The information obtained may be used only to protect Strike 3’s rights as described in its complaint. The order authorized discovery; it did not determine the Doe defendant’s identity or decide whether copyright infringement occurred.
Read the full 8-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.