Strike 3 Holdings, LLC v. John Doe subscriber assigned IP address 73.71.33.204

I. INTRODUCTION

18 Plaintiff filed this matter on January 25, 2021, alleging it holds the copyright on various 19 adult films, and that defendant is infringing on those copyrights by anonymously downloading 20 and distributing Strike 3’s films to others, using the BitTorrent protocol. (ECF No. 1.) Plaintiff 21 can only identify defendant by his or her IP address, through which defendant downloads and 22 distributes the films. (Id.) To acquire the true name and address of defendant, plaintiff brings an 23 ex parte application to engage in expedited discovery and serve a third-party subpoena, prior to a 24 Rule 26(f) conference, on defendant’s internet service provider (“ISP”), Comcast Cable. (ECF 25 No. 3-1 at 7.) Plaintiff asserts that without the subpoena it will be unable to serve the complaint 26 on defendant and will, therefore, be prevented from vindicating its copyright. (Id. at 8.) 27 //// 28 II. DISCUSSION A. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 26(d) and (f) Rule 26(d) states “[a] party may not seek discovery from any source before the parties have conferred as required by Rule 26(f), except in a proceeding excepted from initial disclosure 5 …