First Time Videos, LLC v. Does 1-500

276 F.R.D. 241 (2011)

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First Time Videos, LLC v. Does 1-500

United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
276 F.R.D. 241 (2011)

  • Written by Tammy Boggs, JD

Facts

First Time Videos, LLC (FTV) (plaintiff) was the owner of copyrights over adult videos and photographs. FTV distributed its copyrighted content over the Internet. A number of Internet users (the Does) (defendants) used a technology known as BitTorrent, which was a decentralized method of distributing data over the Internet. Unlike the traditional method of distribution that utilized a central server to respond to data requests, BitTorrent used a “swarm,” with most data transmitted between individual users in the swarm. The nature of BitTorrent made it highly effective for uninterrupted data sharing but difficult for a copyright owner to stop unauthorized sharing of content; there was no single central server to target. FTV brought a copyright-infringement action against the Does. FTV underwent an extensive process of identifying Internet Protocol (IP) addresses at the date and time of alleged copyright-infringing activities, traced the IP addresses to specific Internet service providers (ISPs), and subpoenaed the ISPs for subscriber information associated with an IP address. FTV attested that it had no other means of obtaining the identity information, and FTV provided copies of the copyrighted content that each Doe had distributed. Some of the Does moved to quash the subpoenas on the grounds of their privacy and First Amendment rights.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Castillo, J.)

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