Personalized Media Communications, LLC v. Netflix, Inc.
- John Cronan
- 1:20-cv-03708
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In Personalized Media v. Netflix, Judge Cronan denied PMC’s motion to seal and scheduled a conference about disputed source-code discovery.
Personalized Media Communications, LLC and Netflix, Inc.; the order addressed the public filing of PMC’s letter, scheduled a conference about the parties’ source-code discovery dispute, and closed the listed pending motions.
What happened
Personalized Media Communications, LLC v. Netflix, Inc. concerns PMC’s request for additional source code related to Netflix’s Trick Play thumbnail feature. PMC said Netflix had produced code piecemeal and had not provided all relevant web-player code.
PMC asked the court to require production of the full web-player source-code stack. Alternatively, PMC asked the court to restrict Netflix from using information allegedly withheld during discovery. Netflix opposed the full-stack request and proposed producing only specifically identified files, according to PMC’s letter.
The court ordered the parties’ attorneys to attend a February 26, 2021 conference and allowed Netflix to respond to PMC’s letter. Judge John P. Cronan denied PMC’s February 18 motion to seal the submission and directed the clerk to close the pending motions listed on Dockets 163, 164, and 165.
The detailed version
- Personalized Media Communications, LLC v. Netflix, Inc. · No. 1:20-cv-03708
- John Cronan
- Feb. 23, 2021
Background
PMC’s February 18, 2021 letter asked the court to intervene in a continuing discovery dispute over source code for Netflix’s web player and its “Trick Play” thumbnail feature. PMC asserted that Netflix had produced source code file by file, but that the newly produced files referenced other relevant files that Netflix had not produced. PMC specifically identified code associated with the progress bar, the connection between the thumbnail and the user’s position, and the `getFrame()` call chain.
PMC said the parties had previously met and conferred and that the court had ordered Netflix to identify or produce source code responsible for Trick Play’s overlay functionality. PMC argued that Netflix’s later production did not satisfy that order. PMC requested production of the full web-player source-code stack, which it said included Cadmium code, user-interface code, and other player code. In the alternative, PMC asked the court to prevent Netflix from relying on withheld information to challenge PMC’s infringement theories or evidence.
The Court’s Action
The court ordered counsel for all parties to appear at a February 26, 2021 teleconference to discuss PMC’s letter and permitted Netflix to file a response by February 25, 2021. The endorsement does not state that the court granted or denied PMC’s requests for the full source-code stack or discovery-related restrictions.
The court stated that Netflix had determined there was no basis to keep the letter under seal and therefore ordered the submission filed publicly. Judge John P. Cronan denied PMC’s February 18 letter motion to seal the submission. The clerk was directed to close the motions pending at Dockets 163, 164, and 165.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.