Strike 3 Holdings, LLC v. Doe, 1:24-cv-00719

Strike 3 Holdings, LLC owns copyrights in adult motion pictures, which it alleges were illegally downloaded and distributed via BitTorrent by an unknown defendant associated with a specific IP address.
Using its proprietary infringement detection system, Strike 3 identified the IP address but does not yet know the identity of the infringer.
Strike 3 seeks leave of court to issue a subpoena to Verizon, the internet service provider (ISP), to ascertain the name and address assigned to the targeted IP address in order to serve the complaint.
Normally, discovery may not commence before the formal Rule 26(f) conference; however, exceptions exist when "good cause" is shown.
The request is ex parte and specifically aimed at limited, identifying information required to proceed with the case.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether to allow pre-conference discovery to learn defendant ID.	Good cause exists due to inability to proceed otherwise.	Not presented/ex parte motion	Good cause shown; subpoena allowed.
Whether need for subpoena outweighs subscriber privacy interest.	No expectation of privacy in illegal file-sharing activities.	Not presented/ex parte motion	No expectation of privacy.
Whether discovery request is sufficiently specific and limited.	Seeks only name and address associated with IP address.	Not presented/ex parte motion	Request is specific and narrow.
Whether alternative means exist to identify defendant.	No alternatives available—required info is with ISP.	Not presented/ex parte motion	No other means available.

Sony Music Ent. v. Does 1-40, 326 F. Supp. 2d 556 (S.D.N.Y. 2004) (establishes test for allowing pre-conference subpoenas to identify anonymous copyright defendants)
Arista Recs., LLC v. Doe 3, 604 F.3d 110 (2d Cir. 2010) (no privacy expectation in anonymously shared copyrighted material online)