Filed: Apr. 24, 2015
Latest Update: Apr. 24, 2015
Summary: ORDER PHILIP R. LAMMENS , Magistrate Judge . Plaintiff, Plastic the Movie Limited, as the alleged owner of the copyright for Plastic, seeks permission to serve Bright House Networks Online Service, the defendant's alleged Internet Service Provider ("ISP"), with a subpoena before the Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(f) conference. (Doc. 8). With an assumption that the subscriber is the infringer, it alleges the defendant, known to it only by an internet protocol ("IP") address, infring
Summary: ORDER PHILIP R. LAMMENS , Magistrate Judge . Plaintiff, Plastic the Movie Limited, as the alleged owner of the copyright for Plastic, seeks permission to serve Bright House Networks Online Service, the defendant's alleged Internet Service Provider ("ISP"), with a subpoena before the Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(f) conference. (Doc. 8). With an assumption that the subscriber is the infringer, it alleges the defendant, known to it only by an internet protocol ("IP") address, infringe..
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ORDER
PHILIP R. LAMMENS, Magistrate Judge.
Plaintiff, Plastic the Movie Limited, as the alleged owner of the copyright for Plastic, seeks permission to serve Bright House Networks Online Service, the defendant's alleged Internet Service Provider ("ISP"), with a subpoena before the Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(f) conference. (Doc. 8). With an assumption that the subscriber is the infringer, it alleges the defendant, known to it only by an internet protocol ("IP") address, infringed its copyright by using BitTorrent protocol1 to copy and distribute the movie. (Doc. 8-1). It argues it needs early discovery to identify him or her. Id.
A court has broad discretion in managing discovery. Klay v. All Defendants, 425 F.3d 977, 982 (11th Cir. 2005). A court may permit a party to conduct discovery before a Rule 26(f) conference. Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(d)(1). Courts usually require a showing of good cause for early discovery. See TracFone Wireless, Inc. v. Holden Prop. Servs., LLC, 299 F.R.D. 692, 694 (S.D. Fla. 2014); Digital Sin, Inc. v. Does 1-176, 270 F.R.D. 239, 241 (S.D.N.Y. 2012); Dorrah v. United States, 282 F.R.D. 442, 445 (N.D. Iowa 2012).
Here, Plaintiff has established good cause for early discovery: it has sufficiently alleged infringement, (Doc. 1, ¶¶ 36-38); it does not have another way to discover the putative infringer's identity to proceed with the litigation, (Doc. 8-1, pp. 8-9); and ISPs rarely maintain the information for long, (Doc. 8-1, pp. 7-8). The Court therefore GRANTS Plaintiff's motion, (Doc. 8), as follows:
1. Plaintiff may serve on Bright House Networks Online Service a Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 45 subpoena commanding the name, address, email address, and telephone number of the subscriber of the identified IP address. The subpoena must attach the complaint and this order.2
2. Plaintiff may use the subscriber's information only to protect and enforce its rights set forth in the complaint.
3. If Bright House Networks Online Service is a "cable operator" under 47 U.S.C. § 522(5),3 it must comply with 47 U.S.C. § 551(c)(2), which permits a cable operator to disclose personal identifying information if the disclosure is "made pursuant to a court order authorizing such disclosure, if the subscriber is notified of such order by the person to whom the order is directed," by sending a copy of this order to the defendant.
DONE and ORDERED.
