Strike 3 Holdings, LLC v. John Doe subscriber assigned IP address 73.231.214.39
- Edward Davila
- 5:23-cv-05468
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 7
In Strike 3 Holdings v. John Doe, Judge Davila allowed a subpoena to identify an alleged copyright infringer while protecting the subscriber’s identity.
Strike 3 Holdings may subpoena Comcast Cable or another identified internet provider for the Doe subscriber’s name and address. The Doe subscriber may challenge the subpoena or seek anonymous treatment, and the internet service provider must follow the order’s notice, preservation, and confidentiality requirements.
What happened
Strike 3 Holdings sued an unknown person, identified by IP address 73.231.214.39, alleging that the person used BitTorrent to download and distribute about 89 copyrighted adult films. Strike 3 asked to obtain the person’s name and address from Comcast Cable.
The court granted Strike 3’s application for early discovery and allowed it to serve Comcast with a subpoena. Comcast must notify the subscriber, who may challenge the subpoena or ask to proceed anonymously. The subscriber’s identifying information must remain confidential and may not be publicly disclosed without the court’s permission.
Judge Edward J. Davila found that Strike 3 showed good cause under the court’s four-part test for identifying an unknown defendant. The order did not decide whether the subscriber committed copyright infringement; it authorized limited discovery subject to protective conditions.
The detailed version
- Strike 3 Holdings, LLC v. John Doe subscriber assigned IP address 73.231.214.39 · No. 5:23-cv-05468
- Edward Davila
- Nov. 27, 2023
Background
Strike 3 Holdings, LLC sued an unknown individual identified as “John Doe Subscriber Assigned IP Address 73.231.214.39.” Strike 3 alleged that the individual used BitTorrent to download and distribute about 89 of Strike 3’s copyrighted adult motion pictures between April and September 2023. The complaint asserted one claim for direct copyright infringement and sought an injunction and statutory damages.
Strike 3 filed an ex parte application, meaning an application made without first obtaining the opposing party’s participation, asking for permission to serve a subpoena on Comcast Cable. The subpoena sought the subscriber’s true name and address associated with the IP address.
Court’s Analysis
The court applied the standard for early discovery before the parties’ required initial conference. Courts generally require “good cause,” which may exist when the need for expedited discovery outweighs prejudice to the responding party.
The court applied four factors for identifying an unknown defendant:
- Strike 3 identified the Doe defendant with enough specificity for the court to determine that the defendant was a real person who could be sued in federal court. The complaint alleged that BitTorrent activity required a human user and that Strike 3 had traced the IP address to a location within the district.
- Strike 3 described its efforts to identify the defendant, including use of geolocation and infringement-detection technology, web searches, and consultations with computer investigators and cybersecurity experts.
- The court found preliminarily that the complaint could withstand a motion to dismiss. Strike 3 alleged that it owned the copyrights and that the Doe defendant downloaded, copied, and distributed the works without permission.
- The requested discovery was reasonably likely to produce information allowing service of process because the internet service provider was the entity that could match the IP address to the subscriber’s identity.
The court also discussed concerns raised in other cases about the possibility that an internet-service subscriber may not be the person who committed the alleged infringement. The court noted that subscribers could face pressure to settle because of the risk of public identification and the cost of legal representation. Strike 3 did not oppose procedural safeguards protecting privacy.
Ruling and Conditions
The court GRANTED Strike 3’s ex parte application with respect to the Doe defendant and granted leave to issue a third-party subpoena. Strike 3 may serve a Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 45 subpoena on Comcast Cable seeking the defendant’s true name and address, but it must attach the order. Strike 3 may also serve the same type of subpoena on another internet provider identified in response to the subpoena.
The order imposed these conditions:
- The internet service provider must serve the Doe subscriber with the subpoena and the order within 30 days after being served. - The Doe subscriber may, within 30 days after receiving the subpoena and order, challenge the subpoena, including by asking the court to cancel or change it. - The Doe subscriber may ask to proceed under a pseudonym and request that identifying information be filed under seal. - If the subscriber does not challenge the subpoena within 30 days, the internet service provider may produce the requested information within 10 days. - Strike 3 may use the information only to protect and enforce the rights asserted in the complaint. - Strike 3 may not publicly disclose the information without the court’s permission, and references to the Doe defendant’s identity must be redacted and filed under seal until further order. - The internet service provider must preserve subpoenaed information while any timely motion challenging the subpoena is pending.
The order authorized limited discovery and protective measures; it did not enter judgment on the copyright-infringement claim.
Read the full 7-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.