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UNITEDSTATESDISTRICTCOURTFORTHEDISTRICTOFCOLUMBIA

BMGMUSIC,aNewYorkgener

a

lpartnership;LONDON-SIRERECORDSCivilActionNo.:INC.,aDelawarecorporation;ARISTARECORDS,INC.,aDelawarecorporation;CAPITOLRECORDS,INC.,aDelawarecorporation;ELEKTRAENTERTAINMENTGROUPINC.,aDelawarecorporation;ATLANTICRECORDINGCORPORATION,aDelawarecorporation;UMGRECORDINGS,INC.,aDel

a

warecorporation;SONYMUSICENTERTAINMENTINC.,aDelawarecorporation;andVIRGINRECORDSAMERICA,INC.,aCaliforniacorporation,Plaintiffs,

V

.

DOES1-3,Defendants.

MOTIONFORLEAVETOTAKEIMMEDIATEDISCOVERYI.INT

R

ODUCTI

O

N

Pl

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intiffs,recordcompanieswhoownthecopyrightsinthemostpopularsoundrecordingsintheUnitedStates,seekleaveofCourttoservelimited,immediatediscoveryonathirdpartyInternetServiceProvider("ISP")todeterminethetrueidentitiesofDoeDefendants,whoarebeingsuedfordirectcopyrightinfringement.Withoutsuchdiscovery,Plaintiffscannot

identifytheDoeDefendants,andthuscannotpursuetheirlawsuittoprotecttheircopyrightedworksfromrepetitive,rampantinfringement.

1

Asallegedinthecomplaint,theDoeDefendants,withoutauthorization,usedanonlinemediadistributionsystem(

e.g

.,apeer

-

to-peeror"P2P"system)todownloadPlaintiffs'copyrightedworks,distributecopyrightedworkstothepublic,and

/

ormakecopyrightedworksavailablefordistributiontoothers.SeeDeclarationofJonathanWhitehead("WhiteheadDecl.'),¶16andEx.1.AlthoughPlaintiffsdonotknowthetruenamesoftheDefendants,2PlaintiffshaveidentifiedeachDefendantbyauniqueInternetProtocol("IP")addressassignedtothatDefendantonthedateandatthetimeoftheDefendant'sinfringingactivity.Id___.dditionally,Plaintiffshavegatheredevidenceoftheinfringingactivities.Id.¶716-17.PlaintiffshavemadecopiesofseveralsoundrecordingseachDefendantillegallydistributedormadeavailablefordistribution,andhaveobtainedcopiesofamorecompletelistoffiles(attimesnumberinginthethousands)thateachDefendanthasmadeavailabletothepublicfordistribution.Id.andEx.1.PlaintiffshaveidentifiedtheISPthatprovidedInternetaccesstoeachDefendantbyusingapubliclyavailabledatabasetotracetheIPaddressforeachDefendant.Id__.¶12,16.Here,theISPisGeorgetownUniversity("Georgetown").Id___.WhengivenaDefendant'sIPaddressandthedateandtimeofinfringement,anISPquicklyandeasilycanidentifythenameandaddressoftheDoeDefendant(

i

.

e

.

,

theISP'ssubscriber)becausethatinformationis1BecausePlaintiffsdonotcurrentlyknowtheidentityofanyoftheDefendants,PlaintiffscannotascertainanyoftheDefendants'positiononthisMotion.2WhenusingaP2Psystem(

e

.

g

.,KaZaA,iMesh,Grokster,orGnutella),Defendantstypicallyusemonikers,orusernames,andnottheirtruenames.WhiteheadDecl.,¶7.PlaintiffshavenoabilitytodetermineaDefendant'struenameotherthanbyseekingtheinformationfromtheISP.Id.¶¶11,16-17.2

containedintheISP'ssubscriberactivitylogfiles.Id.¶14.3Plaintiffs'experienceisthatISPstypicallykeeplogfilesofsubscriberactivitiesforonlylimitedperiodsoftime-sometimesforaslittleasweeksorevendays-beforeerasingthedata.Id.¶22.PlaintiffsnowseekleaveofCourttoservelimited,immediatediscoveryonGeorgetowntoidentifyeachDefendant.PlaintiffsintendtoserveaRule45subpoenaonGeorgetownseekingeachDefendant'struename,address,telephonenumber,e-mailaddress,andMediaAccessControl("MAC")addresses.OncePlaintiffslearnaDefendant'sidentifyinginformation,PlaintiffswillcontacttheDefendantandattempttoresolvethedispute.Ifthedisputeisnotresolvedanditisdeterminedthatitwouldbemoreappropriatetolitigatethecopyrightinfringementclaimsinanotherjurisdiction,PlaintiffswilldismisstheparticularDefendantfromthepresentlawsuitandre-fileinanotherjurisdiction.WithouttheabilitytoobtaintheDefendant'sidentifyinginformation,however,Plaintiffsmayneverbeabletopursuetheirlawsuittoprotecttheircopyrightedworksfromrepeatedinfringement.Id.¶22.Thus,theneedforthelimited,immediatediscoverysoughtinthisMotioniscritical.II

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orkshavespawn

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danillegaltradeincop

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dworks.BydownloadingP2Psoftware,andloggingontoaP2Pnetwork,anindividualcanupload(distribute)ordownload(copy),withoutauthorization,countlesscopyrightedmusicandvideofilestoorfromanyotherInternetuserworldwide

.

Id.¶7.SeeUniversalCit

yStudios,

3ISPsownorareassignedcertainblocksorrangesofIPaddresses.AsubscribergainsaccesstotheInternetthroughanISPaftersettingupanaccountwiththeISP.AnISPthenassignsaparticularIPaddressinitsblockorrangetothesubscriberwhenthatsubscribergoes"online."Afterreviewingthesubscriberactivitylogs(whichcontaintheassignedIPaddresses),anISPcanidentifyitssubscribersbyname.WhiteheadDecl.,¶14.3

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