Copyright: Arista Records LLC v. Doe 3

Listen to this article

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

Copyright

Music Downloads

Arista Records LLC v. Doe 3
09-0905-cv
Appealed from the Northern District of New York

Background: This is an appeal from an order of the district court rejecting the anonymous defendant’s objections to the magistrate judge’s denial of a motion to quash a subpoena served on the Internet service provider for the disclosure of identities of internet users allegedly downloading or distributing music online in violation of plaintiffs’ copyrights. The defendant’s identity is not known to the plaintiffs.

Ruling: The order is affirmed.  To subpoena an anonymous internet defendant’s identifying information requires a showing of actionable harm. Plaintiff’s complaint is sufficient to meet this standard. Doe 3’s expectation of privacy for sharing copyrighted music through an online file-sharing network as simply insufficient to permit him to avoid having to defend against a claim of copyright infringement.

Richard A. Altman for the appellant and Timothy M. Reynolds for the appellees