Strike 3 Holdings, LLC v. John Doe subscriber assigned IP address 104.56.119.158

BACKGROUND

19 Plaintiff owns and distributes adult motion pictures on websites and DVDs. Dkt. No. 1, 20 Compl. ¶¶ 2-3. On January 12, 2021, plaintiff filed a complaint alleging that Doe Defendant with 21 IP address 104.56.119.158 stole plaintiff’s works by downloading and distributing 42 of plaintiff’s 22 adult motion pictures over an extended time period and without plaintiff’s permission. Id. at ¶ 4. 23 On February 3, 2021, plaintiff filed an Ex Parte Application for Leave to Serve a Third- 24 Party Subpoena Prior to Rule 26(f) Conference. Dkt. No. 7. Plaintiff seeks leave to serve 25 defendant’s internet service provider, AT&T U-Verse, with a subpoena under Federal Rule of Civil 26 Procedure 45. Id. at 2. The subpoena will request Doe Defendant’s name and address, which will 27 be used to pursue plaintiff’s claims in the complaint. Id. LEGAL STANDARD Generally, formal discovery is only permitted after the parties have conferred as required by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(f). However, a court may grant a request to take discovery prior to the parties' meeting under Rule 26(f) where the requesting party…