LONDON-SIRE RECORDS, INC., et al., Plaintiffs, v. DOE 1 et al., Defendants., 542 F. Supp. 2d 153

Summary

In determining how to balance the harms in a context of a motion to quash a subpoena under Fed. R. Civ. P. 45(c)(3), the court adopted the approach of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York in Sony Music Entm't v. Does 1-40. This approach examined five factors. Two rights reserved to a copyright holder were at issue in the case: the right to reproduce the copyrighted work in copies or phonorecords, pursuant to 17 U.S.C.S. § 106(1), and the right to distribute copies or phonorecords of the copyrighted work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending, pursuant to 17 U.S.C.S. § 106(3). The court was able to draw from the complaint and the record a reasonable inference in the companies' favor--that where a user had completed all the necessary steps for a public distribution, a reasonable fact-finder could infer that the distribution actually took place. The court rejected movants' contention that the distribution ...