Strike 3 Holdings, LLC v. Doe
Strike 3 Holdings, LLC v. Doe
Opinion of the Court
Before the Court is Plaintiff's motion for leave to serve a third party subpoena prior to a Rule 26(f) conference. See Dkt. 4.
*443I. BACKGROUND
Plaintiff Strike 3 Holdings LLC, is the owner of certain motion pictures involved in this action. See Dkt. 1. In the complaint, Plaintiff alleges that Defendant-who is identified by an IP address-is "committing rampant and wholesale copyright infringement by downloading Strike 3's motion pictures" and "distributing them to others." Id. at 1-2 (Compl. ¶ 4). Plaintiff seeks statutory damages and declaratory and injunctive relief prohibiting continued infringement. Id. at 7-8 (Compl. ¶ 39).
Because Plaintiff is aware of Defendant's IP address and Internet Service Provider but not his or her identity, Plaintiff seeks leave to serve a third-party subpoena on Defendant's ISP-Comcast Cable Communications, LLC-that would require Comcast to identify Defendant. Dkt. 4-5 at 4-5. Because Defendant has not been named or served, no response has been filed to Plaintiff's motion.
II. LEGAL STANDARD
A party ordinarily "may not seek discovery from any source" before a conference under Rule 26(f) unless "authorized by ... a court order." Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(d)(1). "To determine whether to authorize discovery prior to a Rule 26(f) conference in a particular case, this district has applied a 'good cause' standard." Malibu Media, LLC v. Doe ,
III. ANALYSIS
Upon consideration of the relevant legal authorities and Plaintiff's pleadings, the Court finds that Plaintiff has demonstrated that good cause exists to take discovery prior to the Rule 26(f) conference. First, Plaintiff must serve Defendant before this lawsuit can progress, but, in order to effect service, Plaintiff needs to know Defendant's identity. See Arista Records LLC ,
SO ORDERED .
Reference
- Full Case Name
- STRIKE 3 HOLDINGS, LLC v. John DOE subscriber assigned IP address 69.140.196.105
- Status
- Published