1 Robert S. Meloni (Pro Hac Vice) MELONI &MCCAFFREY, A Professional Corporation 2 3 Columbus Circle, 15th Floor New York, New York 10019 3 P: (212) 520-6089 F: (917) 210-3758 4 E-Mail: [email protected] E-Mail: [email protected] 5 Attorneys for Defendants Grade A Productions, LLC erroneously sued as Grade A Productions, Interscope Records, a division of UMG Recordings, Inc. erroneouly 6 sued as Interscope Records and UMG Recordings, Inc., Nick Mira 7 Max J. Sprecher, Esq. (SBN: 169285) LAW OFFICES OF MAX J. SPRECHER 8 5850 Canoga Avenue, 4th Floor Woodland Hills, CA 91367 9 T: 818.996.2255 F: 818.996.4204 10 E-Mail: [email protected] Attorneys for Defendants Grade A Productions, LLC erroneously sued as Grade A 11 Productions, Interscope Records, a division of UMG Recordings, Inc. erroneouly sued as Interscope Records and UMG Recordings, Inc., Nick Mira and Estate of 12 Jarad Higgins UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 13 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 14 WESTERN DIVISION 15 J.W., A MINOR BY AND THROUGH Case No. 2:19cv06007 SB (AFMx) 16 HIS GUARDIAN AD LITEM THOMAS Filed: July 12, 2019 F. WILLISCH, 17 Plaintiff, 18 STIPULATED PROTECTIVE vs. ORDER1 19 JARAD HIGGINS, professionally 20 known as JUICE WRLD; NICK MIRA; GRADE A PRODUCTIONS; 21 INTERSCOPE RECORDS; UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP 22 RECORDINGS, INC., AKA UMG RECORDINGS INC. 23 Defendant. 24 25 1. A. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 26 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential, 27 28 1. This Stipulated Protective Order is based substantially on the model protective order provided 1 proprietary or private information for which special protection from public disclosure 2 and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may be warranted. 3 Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to enter the 4 following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this Order does 5 not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery and that 6 the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends only to the limited 7 information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment under the applicable 8 legal principles. 9 B. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT 10 This action is likely to involve commercial, financial, technical and/or 11 proprietary information for which special protection from public disclosure and from 12 use for any purpose other than prosecution of this action is warranted. For example, 13 the agreements between and/or among the defendant artist, the defendant producer 14 and/or one or more of the defendant companies contain proprietary contractual 15 information as to the terms and conditions of the services rendered and the value of 16 the consideration provided in exchange therefore. It also contains the financial terms 17 of those agreements, the disclosure of which could impact the professional standing 18 of the artists and impact future agreements between the companies and other artists. 19 Such confidential and proprietary materials and information consist of, among other 20 things, confidential business or financial information, information regarding 21 confidential business practices, or other confidential commercial information 22 (including information implicating privacy rights of third parties), information 23 otherwise generally unavailable to the public, or which may be privileged or 24 otherwise protected from disclosure under state or federal statutes, court rules, case 25 decisions, or common law. Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to 26 facilitate the prompt resolution of disputes over confidentiality of discovery 27 materials, to adequately protect information the parties are entitled to keep 28 confidential, to ensure that the parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of 1 such material in preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling 2 at the end of the litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such 3 information is justified in this matter. It is the intent of the parties that information 4 will not be designated as confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so 5 designated without a good faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential, 6 non-public manner, and there is good cause why it should not be part of the public 7 record of this case. 8 C. ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF PROCEDURE FOR FILING UNDER 9 SEAL 10 The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 12.3, below, that this 11 Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential information 12 under seal; Local Civil Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be followed and 13 the standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the court to file 14 material under seal. 15 There is a strong presumption that the public has a right of access to judicial 16 proceedings and records in civil cases. In connection with non-dispositive motions, 17 good cause must be shown to support a filing under seal. See Kamakana v. City and 18 County of Honolulu,

(9th Cir. 2006), Phillips v. Gen. Motors 19 Corp.,

, 1210-11 (9th Cir. 2002), Makar-Welbon v. Sony Electrics, 20 Inc.,

(E.D. Wis. 1999) (even stipulated protective orders require 21 good cause showing), and a specific showing of good cause or compelling reasons 22 with proper evidentiary support and legal justification, must be made with respect to 23 Protected Material that a party seeks to file under seal. The parties’ mere designation 24 of Disclosure or Discovery Material as CONFIDENTIAL does not—without the 25 submission of competent evidence by declaration, establishing that the material 26 sought to be filed under seal qualifies as confidential, privileged, or otherwise 27 protectable—constitute good cause. 28 1 Further, if a party requests sealing related to a dispositive motion or trial, then 2 compelling reasons, not only good cause, for the sealing must be shown, and the 3 relief sought shall be narrowly tailored to serve the specific interest to be protected. 4 See Pintos v. Pacific Creditors Ass’n.,

(9th Cir. 2010). For 5 each item or type of information, document, or thing sought to be filed or introduced 6 under seal in connection with a dispositive motion or trial, the party seeking 7 protection must articulate compelling reasons, supported by specific facts and legal 8 justification, for the requested sealing order. Again, competent evidence supporting 9 the application to file documents under seal must be provided by declaration. 10 Any document that is not confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable in 11 its entirety will not be filed under seal if the confidential portions can be redacted. If 12 documents can be redacted, then a redacted version for public viewing, omitting only 13 the confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable portions of the document, shall 14 be filed. Any application that seeks to file documents under seal in their entirety 15 should include an explanation of why redaction is not feasible. 16 2. DEFINITIONS 17 2.1 Action: this pending federal lawsuit. 18 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation 19 of information or items under this Order. 20 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of 21 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for 22 protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in the 23 Good Cause Statement. 24 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as 25 their support staff). 26 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or 27 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as 28 “CONFIDENTIAL.” 1 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless of 2 the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, 3 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or 4 generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter. 5 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter 6 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as 7 an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action. 8 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action. 9 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside 10 counsel. 11 2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association or 12 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 13 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party 14 to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and have 15 appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm that 16 has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff. 17 2.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors, 18 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their 19 support staffs). 20 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or 21 Discovery Material in this Action. 22 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support 23 services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or 24 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) 25 and their employees and subcontractors. 26 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is 27 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 28 1 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material 2 from a Producing Party. 3 3. SCOPE 4 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only 5 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or 6 extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or 7 compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or 8 presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. 9 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the 10 trial judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial. 11 4. DURATION 12 Once a case proceeds to trial, information that was designated as 13 CONFIDENTIAL or maintained pursuant to this protective order used or introduced 14 as an exhibit at trial becomes public and will be presumptively available to all 15 members of the public, including the press, unless compelling reasons supported by 16 specific factual findings to proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance 17 of the trial. See Kamakana,

(distinguishing “good cause” 18 showing for sealing documents produced in discovery from “compelling reasons” 19 standard when merits-related documents are part of court record). Accordingly, the 20 terms of this protective order do not extend beyond the commencement of the trial. 21 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 22 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. 23 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under 24 this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that 25 qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for 26 protection only those parts of material, documents, items or oral or written 27 communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, items 28 1 or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably 2 within the ambit of this Order. 3 Mass, indiscriminate or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations 4 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper 5 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose 6 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating 7 Party to sanctions. 8 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it 9 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must 10 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation. 11 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in 12 this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise 13 stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection 14 under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or 15 produced. 16 Designation in conformity with this Order requires: 17 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic 18 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial 19 proceedings), that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend 20 “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that 21 contains protected material. If only a portion of the material on a page qualifies for 22 protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) 23 (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins). 24 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection 25 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated 26 which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and 27 before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be 28 deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the documents 1 it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which documents, 2 or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before producing 3 the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL 4 legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a portion of the 5 material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly 6 identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the 7 margins). 8 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party 9 identifies the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the 10 deposition all protected testimony. 11 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary 12 and for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place 13 on the exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the 14 legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information warrants 15 protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected 16 portion(s). 17 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent 18 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the 19 Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material. 20 Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable 21 efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this 22 Order. 23 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 24 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a 25 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s 26 Scheduling Order. 27 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute 28 resolution process under Local Rule 37-1 et seq. 1 6.3 Joint Stipulation. Any challenge submitted to the Court shall be via a 2 joint stipulation pursuant to Local Rule 37-2. 3 6.4 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on 4 the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper purpose 5 (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may 6 expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has waived 7 or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall continue to afford the 8 material in question the level of protection to which it is entitled under the Producing 9 Party’s designation until the Court rules on the challenge. 10 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 11 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is 12 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this 13 Action only for prosecuting, defending or attempting to settle this Action. Such 14 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the 15 conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a 16 Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL 17 DISPOSITION). 18 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a 19 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons 20 authorized under this Order. 21 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless 22 otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a 23 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated 24 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to: 25 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as 26 well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably 27 necessary to disclose the information for this Action; 28 1 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of 2 the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action; 3 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom 4 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the 5 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 6 (d) the court and its personnel; 7 (e) court reporters and their staff; 8 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional 9 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have 10 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 11 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a 12 custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information; 13 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in 14 the Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing 15 party requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit 1 hereto; and (2) 16 they will not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the 17 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise 18 agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed 19 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may be 20 separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except as 21 permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and 22 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel, 23 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions. 24 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED IN 25 OTHER LITIGATION 26 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation 27 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as 28 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must: (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating 1 Party. Such notification shall include a copy of the subpoena or court order; (b) 2 promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to issue in the 3 other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena or order is 4 subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include a copy of this 5 Stipulated Protective Order; and (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable 6 procedures sought to be pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material 7 may be affected. 8 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with 9 the subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this 10 action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the 11 subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s 12 permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking 13 protection in that court of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions 14 should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action to 15 disobey a lawful directive from another court. 16 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE 17 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION 18 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a 19 Non-Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information 20 produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the 21 remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be 22 construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections. 23 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to 24 produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is 25 subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s 26 confidential information, then the Party shall: 27 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party 28 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement 1 with a Non-Party; 2 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated 3 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably 4 specific description of the information requested; and 5 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the Non- 6 Party, if requested. 7 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court 8 within 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving 9 Party may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the 10 discovery request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving 11 Party shall not produce any information in its possession or control that is subject to 12 the confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the court. 13 Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and expense 14 of seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material. 15 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 16 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed 17 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this 18 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in 19 writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts 20 to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or 21 persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order, 22 and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and 23 Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A. 24 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE 25 PROTECTED MATERIAL 26 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain 27 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, 28 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil 1 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure 2 may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production without prior 3 privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the 4 parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or 5 information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the 6 parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order submitted 7 to the court. 8 12. MISCELLANEOUS 9 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any 10 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future. 11 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this 12 Protective Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to 13 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this 14 Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any 15 ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order. 16 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any 17 Protected Material must comply with Local Civil Rule 79-5. Protected Material may 18 only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the 19 specific Protected Material at issue. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material 20 under seal is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information 21 in the public record unless otherwise instructed by the court. 22 13. FINAL DISPOSITION 23 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 4, 24 within 60 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party 25 must return all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As 26 used in this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, 27 compilations, summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the 28 Protected Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the 1 Receiving Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if 2 not the same person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that 3 (1) identifies (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was 4 returned or destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any 5 copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or 6 capturing any of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are 7 entitled to retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, 8 and hearing transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial 9 exhibits, expert reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work 10 product, even if such materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies 11 that contain or constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order 12 as set forth in Section 4 (DURATION). 13 14. VIOLATION 14 Any violation of this Order may be punished by appropriate measures 15 including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary sanctions. 16 IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD. 17 GUTMAN LAW MELONI & McCAFFREY A Professional Corporation 18 By: /s/John Juenger 19 John Juenger, SBN 22520 By: /s/Robert S. Meloni Alan S. Gutman, SBN 128514 Robert S. Meloni (Pro Hac Vice) 20 Attorneys for Plaintiff J.W., a minor by Attorneys for Defendants Grade A 21 and through his Guardian Ad Litem Productions, LLC erroneously sued as Thomas F. Willisch Grade A Productions, Interscope 22 Records, a division of UMG 23 Recordings, Inc. erroneously sued as Interscope Records and UMG 24 Recordings, Inc., and Nick Mira 25 26 27 28 1 LAW OFFICES OF MAX J. 5 SPRECHER? 3 By: /s/Max J. Sprecher 4 Robert S. Meloni (Pro Hac Vice) Attorneys for Defendants Grade A 5 Productions, LLC erroneously sued as 6 Grade A Productions, Interscope Records, a division of UMG 7 Recordings, Inc. erroneously sued as g Interscope Records and UMG Recordings, Inc., Nick Mira, and 9 Estate of Jarad Higgins 10 1] 12 FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED. 13 14 DATED: 10/21/2020 q . 15 kK 16 Oe HON. ALEXANDER F. MacKINNON 17 United States Magistrate Judge 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 |2 Pursuant to Local Rule 5-4.3.4(a)(2)(), the filer of this document hereby attests that all signatories concur in the filing of this document. 15 Case No. 2:19cv0Q6007