A federal judge has authorized Strike 3 Holdings to subpoena Comcast for the name and address tied to a New Jersey IP address accused of sharing copyrighted adult films.
CAMDEN, N.J. – If you’ve been stealing pornographic material and your IP address is 73.160.37.60, you might want to hire a lawyer, because the adult film company who owns the material just won a court order to unmask your identity. That IP address tracks back to Comcast’s cable internet network.
An adult entertainment company pursuing a copyright lawsuit in New Jersey has won permission to force Comcast to identify the subscriber behind an IP address allegedly used to distribute its copyrighted material through BitTorrent.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Matthew J. Skahill granted Strike 3 Holdings LLC’s request Thursday in federal court in Camden, allowing the company to subpoena Comcast Cable for the name and address associated with IP address 73.160.37.60 during the alleged infringement periods.
The ruling does not establish that the Comcast subscriber illegally downloaded or distributed anything. Skahill specifically cautioned that the person paying for the internet account may not be the person responsible for the alleged copyright infringement.
Strike 3 Says It Needs Comcast Records to Identify Defendant
Strike 3 filed the case as a copyright action against a John Doe defendant because the company says it knows the IP address allegedly involved but does not yet know the person’s identity.
According to the court’s Aug. 27 opinion, Strike 3 alleges its copyrighted works were illegally distributed using the BitTorrent peer-to-peer file-sharing system in violation of federal copyright law.
Ordinarily, parties in federal litigation must wait until after an initial Rule 26(f) conference before beginning discovery. Strike 3 asked for permission to conduct limited discovery earlier because, it argued, there was no other practical way to identify and serve the defendant.
The judge agreed that the company had demonstrated good cause.
- Strike 3 may subpoena Comcast for only the subscriber’s name and address tied to the IP address identified in its complaint.
- The company may not obtain the subscriber’s telephone numbers, email addresses or other information through the subpoena.
- The judge warned that merely being the subscriber associated with an IP address is not enough, by itself, to establish that a particular person committed the alleged infringement.
What information can Strike 3 obtain from Comcast?
The subpoena is limited to the name and address associated with the IP address during the periods of alleged infringement. The court expressly prohibited Strike 3 from obtaining phone numbers, email addresses or other subscriber information through this subpoena.
Judge Warns IP Subscriber May Not Be the Alleged Infringer
That distinction is one of the most important parts of the ruling.
“The IP account holder might not be personally responsible for the alleged infringement,” Skahill wrote, while finding that the subscriber could nevertheless possess information that helps identify whoever allegedly used the connection.
An internet connection can potentially be used by multiple people, meaning the subscriber’s identity does not necessarily establish who was operating a device at a particular time.
For that reason, the court stopped short of giving Strike 3 broader access to the subscriber’s records.
The order also places restrictions on what the company can do with information Comcast provides. Strike 3 may use it only to protect and enforce the copyright rights asserted in its complaint.
Does the court order mean the Comcast subscriber violated copyright law?
No. The judge explicitly said the subscriber associated with the IP address may not be the alleged infringer. The order permits limited discovery so Strike 3 can investigate who may actually be responsible.
Court Requires More Than an IP Address Before Naming Defendant
Skahill included another safeguard covering what happens after Comcast responds.
Before Strike 3 files an amended complaint publicly identifying a particular person as the defendant, the company must make sure it has “an adequate factual basis” for doing so.
The judge went further in a footnote, saying the discovery order does not mean Strike 3 can rely solely on someone’s association with the IP address to identify that person as the alleged copyright violator.
That means Comcast’s response may give the company a name to investigate, but it does not automatically convert the subscriber into a proven infringer or even establish that the subscriber should ultimately be named as the defendant.
The lawsuit is Strike 3 Holdings, LLC v. John Doe Subscriber Assigned IP Address 73.160.37.60, Civil No. 26-8825, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, Camden Vicinage.
What happens next in the Strike 3 copyright lawsuit?
Strike 3 can serve the authorized subpoena on Comcast. Once it receives the subscriber’s name and address, the company can investigate further, but the court requires an adequate factual basis before it names a specific individual as the defendant.
Sources: U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, Aug. 27 opinion and order in Strike 3 Holdings, LLC v. John Doe Subscriber Assigned IP Address 73.160.37.60, Civil No. 26-8825 (CPO/MJS); U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey
