The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
preserved discovery options for copyright owners fighting online
piracy when it reversed the district court's refusal to allow a
subpoena of an alleged online infringer's internet service
provider. The DC Circuit found that the district court abused its
discretion by relying heavily on the copyright owner's
litigation history and the nature of its films rather than the
relevant legal standards under the Federal Rules of Civil
Procedure. Strike 3 Holdings, LLC v. John Doe, Subscriber
Assigned IP Address 73.180.154.14 (DC Cir. July 14, 2020)
(Rao, J.).
Strike 3 is a producer and online distributor of adult films.
Like most of its industry peers, the company faces significant
online piracy that is often facilitated by peer-to-peer file
sharing. To combat this infringement, Strike 3 regularly files
copyright infringement lawsuits against "John Doe"
defendants based on the internet protocol (IP) address (and
