Strike 3 Holdings, LLC v. John Doe subscriber assigned IP address 24.23.185.139

I. BACKGROUND

25 Strike 3 owns the copyrights for several adult motion pictures that are associated with and 26 distributed through various adult websites. Compl. ¶¶ 1–3. Using a specialized infringement 27 detection system it developed, Strike 3 discovered the IP address of the Doe Defendant who allegedly infringed upon its copyrights. Id. ¶¶ 28–29. Specifically, the Complaint alleges that the Doe Defendant used BitTorrent’s file network to illegally download and distribute twenty-four of Strike 3’s copyrighted material. Id. ¶¶ 29, 38; see also id., Ex. A. On September 26, 2024, Strike 3 filed the Complaint in this case, asserting one claim of direct copyright infringement and seeking an injunction and statutory damages. Id. ¶¶ 48–53. II. LEGAL STANDARD A court may authorize early discovery before the Rule 26(f) conference for the parties’ and witnesses’ convenience and in the interests of justice. Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(d). Courts within the Ninth Circuit generally consider whether a plaintiff has shown “good cause” to warrant early discovery. See, e.g., IO Grp., Inc. v. Does 1–65, 2010 WL 4055667, at *2 (N.D. Cal. Oct.…