UN4 Productions, Inc v. Doe 1 et al

Filing 6

ORDER granting 4 Motion for Discovery. Counsel should read the order in its entirety for critical information. Signed by Magistrate Judge Robert B. Jones, Jr on 6/16/2017. (Briggeman, N.)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE EASTERN DIVISION OF NORTH CAROLINA
SOUTHERN DIVISION
No: 7:17-CV-109-D
UN4 PRODUCTIONS, INC.,
Plaintiff,
V.

DOES 1-17,
Defendants.

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ORDER

This matter comes before the court on Plaintiffs motion for leave to take discovery prior to
conducting a conference pursuant to Rule 26(f) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. [DE-4].
Plaintiff seeks leave to serve one or more subpoenas pursuant to Rule 45 on the internet service
providers ("ISP") Time Warner Cable and Century Link, which Plaintiff asserts will be able to
identify the 17 "Doe" Defendants named in the complaint. Plaintiff has the internet protocol ("IP")
address associated with each Defendant, along with the city and county in which the alleged
infringement occurred, but seeks to obtain by subpoena the name and address, telephone number,
email address, and Media Access Control ("MAC") address of each Defendant. Pl.' s Mem. [DE-42] at 2 & Compl. Ex. C [DE-1-3].
Under the Federal Rules, discovery is not permitted until after the parties have conferred as
required by Rule 26(f), except in certain specified circumstances, including by order of the court.
Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(d)(l). For good cause, a court may allow expedited discovery. See Me2 Prods.,
Inc. v. Does 1-16, No. 4:16-CV-279-FL, 2016 WL 7017268, at *1 (E.D.N.C. Dec. 1, 2016)(citations

omitted). "Factors that courts consider under this test include the procedural posture of the case,
whether the discovery requested is narrowly tailored, whether the party seeking the information

would be irreparably harmed by waiting until after the parties conduct their Rule 26(f) conference,
and whether the information sought would be unavailable or subject to destruction in the absence
of expedited production." Id. (citation omitted).
Plaintiff alleges that Defendants are using online media to distribute Plaintiffs motion
picture without consent or permission in violation of Plaintiffs copyright, Compl.

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seeks identifying information about Defendants in order to effect service and litigate the
infringement claims. The information sought is narrowly tailored to serve this purpose and will
enable the parties to conduct the Rule 26(f) conference. Accordingly, for good cause shown,
Plaintiffs motion is allowed as follows:
( 1) Plaintiff may serve on Time Warner Cable and Century Link subpoenas for documents
containing the name, permanent address, current address, telephone number, e-mail address, and
MAC address of each Doe Defendant, and Plaintiff shall attach to each subpoena a copy of this
order;
(2) Time Warner Cable and Century Link are ordered to provide the documents sought in
each subpoena in accordance with the terms of this order;
(3) Within seven days after the date of Plaintiffs service on Time Warner Cable or Century
Link of a subpoena authorized herein, Time Warner Cable or Century Link shall serve written notice
of the subpoena on the Doe Defendant about whom documents are sought in the subpoena. If Time
Warner Cable, Century Link, or the Doe Defendant about whom documents are sought in a subpoena
wishes to have the subpoena quashed or modified, a motion to quash or modify the subpoena must
be filed with the court and served on counsel for Plaintiff prior to the return date for the subpoena
(which is the date specified in the subpoena for production of the documents sought). The return
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date shall be no earlier than 21 days after the date of service by Plaintiff of the subpoena on Time
Warner Cable or Century Link;
(4) Time Warner Cable and Century Link shall not produce any documents in response to
a subpoena prior to the return date or, if any motions to quash or modify are filed with respect to the
subpoena, unless and until an order is entered denying any such motions and permitting production
pursuant to the subpoena (in which case production shall be in accordance with the terms of such
order). Plaintiff shall notify Time Warner Cable or Century Link of the filing of any motion to quash
or modify a subpoena within one day after the filing of the motion. Time Warner Cable and Century
Link shall make appropriate arrangements to ensure that they have notice of any motions to quash
or modify a subpoena before it produces any documents in response to the subpoena;
(5) Any documents produced to Plaintiff in response to a subpoena may be used solely for
the purpose of prosecuting Plaintiffs infringement claims in this action; and
( 6) Except as expressly provided herein, by further order of the court, or in the Federal Rules
of Civil Procedure, Plaintiff may not engage in discovery in this action prior to the conduct of a Rule
26(±) conference.
SO ORDERED, the

16 day of June 2017.

United States Magistrate Judge

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