Strike 3 Holdings, LLC v. John Doe subscriber assigned IP address 99.45.175.11

Background

Strike 3 asked for permission to file unredacted versions of its First Amended Complaint, proposed summons, and return of service under seal. The documents contained the defendant’s name, address, and other potentially identifying information. The court noted that an earlier directive in this case barred Strike 3 from publicly disclosing such information without court permission, or at least until the defendant had an opportunity to ask to proceed anonymously or further discovery had occurred.

Legal standard and analysis

Court filings are generally presumed to be open to the public. To overcome that presumption, a party generally must show compelling reasons supported by specific facts, after which the court balances the public’s interests against the interests of the party seeking to seal the material. The court found that courts had allowed similar documents to be filed under seal, that the information to be sealed was limited and largely identifying information about the defendant, and that the public could access nearly all other case information through redacted versions already on the docket.

Ruling

The court granted Strike 3’s ex parte application for leave to file the unredacted First Amended Complaint, proposed summons, and return of service under seal. An ex parte application is a request decided without the usual participation of the opposing party at that stage. The Clerk was directed to file the documents under seal. Judge Richard Seeborg’s order did not decide the merits of Strike 3’s claims.