Strike 3 Holdings, LLC v. Doe, 1:25-cv-00213

Strike 3 Holdings, LLC filed a copyright infringement suit alleging that defendant (identified only by IP address) downloaded and distributed its copyrighted motion pictures using the BitTorrent protocol.
Plaintiff’s detection systems, VXN Scan and the Cross Reference Tool, identified defendant’s IP address as involved in the alleged infringement.
Strike 3 moved for leave to serve an early third-party subpoena on defendant’s ISP, Verizon Online LLC, before a Rule 26(f) conference, to obtain the defendant’s name and address for service.
The motion was ex parte, as the defendant’s identity was unknown at the time of filing.
The court also considered issuing a protective order to temporarily maintain the defendant’s confidentiality, balancing privacy and risk of unjust settlement coercion.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Early discovery through a third-party subpoena	Needed to identify defendant to serve complaint	N/A—Identity unknown; privacy interest at issue	Granted with conditions
Prima facie case of copyright infringement	Ownership and unauthorized copying alleged	N/A—Defendant not yet identified	Prima facie case established
Specificity and necessity of subpoena	ISP is sole source to identify defendant	N/A—No alternative means available	Good cause found for subpoena
Expectation of privacy over ISP subscriber identity	Plaintiff’s interest outweighs privacy	Defendant’s name/address should be protected initially	Temporary confidentiality order

Sony Music Entm't Inc. v. Does 1-40, 326 F. Supp. 2d 556 (S.D.N.Y. 2004) (summarizes the elements for a prima facie copyright claim and early discovery standard)
Arista Records LLC v. Doe, 604 F.3d 110 (2d Cir. 2010) (examines expectation of privacy when sharing via online file-sharing)