District of Maryland Case with a Defendant Known Only By An IP Address

Last year, Judge Paula Xinis issued a decision, Malibu Media, LLC v. Doe, No. 8:19-cv-00576-PX, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 32986 (D. Md. Mar. 1, 2019), granting Malibu's motion requesting permission to initiate discovery to identify the Defendant. The Defendant had only been identified by an IP address assigned by an ISP on a particular date, and is alleged to have used BitTorrent to download copyrighted films.

The Court ordered the issuance of a subpoena to produce documents identifying the Doe subscriber. This production cannot be made until the Defendant received notice of the suit, and the Defendant is given 30 days to file a motion to quash the subpoena. The Defendant can file this motion without disclosing his or her identity to anyone except for the Court.

The identity of the Defendant will remain highly confidential, and must be redacted from public filings.