United States District Court, D. Connecticut
ORDER GRANTING MOTION FOR LEAVE TO SERVE THIRD PARTY
SUBPOENA PRIOR TO A RULE 26(f) CONFERENCE
Jeffrey Alker Meyer United States District Judge
Plaintiff
Strike 3 Holdings, LLC alleges that defendant John Doe,
identified only by his IP address, committed copyright
infringement by distributing plaintiff's adult films
using BitTorrent, a peer-to-peer file distribution network.
Doc. #1. Plaintiff moves pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil
Procedure 26(d)(1) for leave to serve a third-party subpoena
on defendant's internet service provider
(“ISP”) for the limited purpose of discovering
defendant's identity; only with defendant's identity
will plaintiff be able to serve defendant with process and
proceed with the case. Doc. #3-1 at 13. For substantially the
reasons set forth in plaintiff's motion and supporting
documents, I will GRANT the motion, having concluded that
plaintiff has established good cause for entry of this order.
Plaintiff
acknowledges the concerns raised by many courts around the
nation that, given the nature of the films allegedly
distributed by defendants, defendants may feel coerced to
settle these suits merely to prevent public disclosure of
defendants' identifying information.[1] See,
e.g., Malibu Media, LLC v. Doe, 2015 WL 4092417
(S.D.N.Y. 2015); Malibu Media, LLC v. Doe, 2015 WL
1780965 (S.D.N.Y. 2015); Malibu Media, LLC v. Doe,
2015 WL 4923114 (S.D.N.Y. 2015). I share these concerns. This
order is therefore subject to the following conditions and
limitations:
1. Plaintiff may subpoena defendant's ISP only to obtain
defendant's name and address, but not defendant's
e-mail or telephone number. Plaintiff may only use
defendant's name and address, if obtained by
defendant's ISP, for the purposes of this litigation;
plaintiff is ordered not to disclose defendant's name or
address, or any other identifying information other than
defendant's ISP number, that plaintiff may subsequently
learn. Plaintiff shall not threaten to disclose any of
defendant's identifying information. Defendant will be
permitted to litigate this case anonymously unless and until
this Court orders otherwise and only after defendant has had
an opportunity to challenge the disclosure. Therefore,
plaintiff is ordered not to publicly file any of
defendant's identifying information and to file all
documents containing defendant's identifying information
under seal.
2. Plaintiff may immediately serve a Rule 45 subpoena on
defendant's ISP to obtain defendant's name and
current and permanent address. Plaintiff is expressly not
permitted to subpoena the ISP for defendant's e-mail
addresses or telephone numbers. Plaintiff shall serve
defendant's ISP with a copy of the complaint, this Order,
and the subpoena.
3. After having been served with the subpoena, the ISP will
delay producing to plaintiff the subpoenaed information until
after it has provided defendant John Doe with:
a. Notice that this suit has been filed naming defendant as
the one that allegedly downloaded copyright protected work;
b. A copy of the subpoena, the complaint filed in this
lawsuit, and this Order; and c. Notice that the ISP will
comply with the subpoena and produce to plaintiff the
information sought in the subpoena unless, within 60 days of
service of the subpoena on defendant by the ISP, defendant
files a motion to quash the subpoena or for other appropriate
relief in this Court. If a timely motion to quash is filed,
the ISP shall not produce the subpoenaed information until
the Court acts on the motion.
4. Defendant's ISP will have 60 days from the date of
service of the Rule 45 subpoena upon it to serve defendant
John Doe with a copy of the complaint, this Order, and the
subpoena. The ISP may serve defendant John Doe using any
reasonable means, including written notice sent to his or her
last known address, transmitted either by first class mail or
via overnight service.
5. Defendant John Doe shall have 60 days from the date of
service of the Rule 45 subpoena and this Order upon him to
file any motions with this Court contesting the subpoena
(including a motion to quash or modify the subpoena), as well
as any request to litigate the subpoena anonymously. The ISP
may not turn over the identifying information of defendant to
plaintiff before the expiration of this 60-day period.
Additionally, if defendant or the ISP files a motion to quash
or modify the subpoena, or a request to litigate the subpoena
anonymously, the ISP may not turn over any information to
plaintiff until the issues have been addressed and the Court
issues an order instructing the ISP to resume turning over
the requested discovery.
6. Defendant's ISP shall preserve any subpoenaed
information pending the resolution of any timely filed motion
to quash.
7. Defendant's ISP shall confer with plaintiff and shall
not assess any charge in advance of providing the information
requested in the subpoena. If defendant's ISP receives a
subpoena and elects to charge for the costs of production, it
shall provide a billing summary and cost report to plaintiff.
8. Any information ultimately disclosed to plaintiff in
response to a Rule 45 subpoena may be used by plaintiff
solely for the purpose of protecting plaintiff's rights
as set forth in its complaint.
It is
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