MUST Read decision in California

090611 Tru Filth, LLC dba On The Cheap, LLC -- Dismissal of Out-Of-State Defendants

tl;dr

Basically, Judge Bernard Zimmerman dismissed the lawsuit for misjoinder and improper venue. This decision just screams "cite me cite me!"

Of note, the court states that " Most recent decisions on this issue have concluded that the use of the BitTorrent protocol does not distinguish these cases from earlier rulings in P2P cases in which courts found that joining multiple Doe defendants was improper since downloading the same file did not mean that each defendant were engaged in the same transaction or occurrence."

The court argues that joinder of the several thousand defendants would create manageability issues as each defendant will likely raise different legal and factual issues, as is evidenced by all the motions to quash that have been filed. Basically, a logistical nightmare for the court to schedule hearings, deal with the docket, handle motions. It would not further judicial efficiency.

I kinda love this judge. His opinion goes on to say that plaintiff's attorney was not able to explain how a case management conference or pre-trial would be handled with 5,000 defendants.

And my favorite part, which is sadly in a footnote.

"The court's concerns are heightened by plaintiff's refusal to file under seal a copy of its settlement letter and related informtion about its settlement practices. The silm sells for $19.95 on plaintiff's website. According to public reports, plaintiffs in other BitTorrent cases, rather than prosecuting their lawsuits after learning the identities of Does, are demanding thousands of dollars from each Doe defendant in settlement. If all this is correct, it raises questions of whether this film was produced for commercial purposes or for purposes of generating litigation. [...] If all the concerns about these mass Doe lawsuits are true, it appears that the copyright laws are being used as part of a massive collection scheme and not to promote useful arts."