Court: United States District Court, Southern District Texas

Document status: Memorandum and Order Granting Rule 45 Discovery, Denying DMCA Subpoena

Issue or relevant point(s): Subject to the Article III power of the court, and particularly under a claim of copyright infringement, can a Plaintiff seek infringer identification information from a service provider under a Rule 45 and/or 512(h) subpoena?

Ruling:  The Court granted the Plaintiff’s motion for limited discovery of information related to persons believed involved in illegal peer-to-peer file sharing via a Rule 45 subpoena (subject to a protective order), but denied the same request under 17 U.S.C. § 512(h).