Columbia Pictures, Inc. v. Bunnell

245 F.R.D. 443, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 63620, 2007 WL 2702062
CourtDistrict Court, C.D. California
DecidedAugust 24, 2007
DocketNo. 2:06-cv-01093 FMC-JCx
StatusPublished
Cited by71 cases

This text of 245 F.R.D. 443 (Columbia Pictures, Inc. v. Bunnell) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, C.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Columbia Pictures, Inc. v. Bunnell, 245 F.R.D. 443, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 63620, 2007 WL 2702062 (C.D. Cal. 2007).

Opinion

ORDER DENYING DEFENDANTS’ MOTION FOR REVIEW

COOPER, District Judge.

This matter is before the Court on Defendants’ Objections to and Motion for Review of Order Regarding Server Log Data (docket no. 194), filed June 12, 2007. The Court has read and considered the moving, opposition, and reply documents submitted in connection with this motion. The matter was heard on August 20, 2007, at which time the parties were in receipt of the Court’s Tentative Order. For the reasons and in the manner set forth below, the Court hereby DENIES Defendants’ Motion.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Plaintiffs are motion picture studios that own copyrights or exclusive reproduction and distribution rights to numerous movies and television programs. Defendants operate a website that serves as a search engine that enables users to locate and download dot-torrent files. Using dot-torrent files and an independent computer software program, a “BitTorrent” client, users join a peer-to-peer network that facilitates the copying and distribution of the files that were the subject of the users’ search. Defendants’ website thereby allegedly permits Internet users to locate and download, view, store, and distribute unauthorized copies of Plaintiffs’ copyrighted motion pictures and television shows. In this way, Plaintiffs allege Defendants knowingly enable, encourage, induce, and profit from the online piracy of Plaintiffs’ copyrighted works.

On February 23, 2006, Plaintiffs filed a Complaint asserting a claim for copyright infringement. Numerous discovery disputes have arisen between the parties, and Defendants have repeatedly moved this Court to review and reconsider the rulings of Magis[446]*446trate Judge Chooljian. On June 12, 2007, Defendants filed their latest challenge, against the Magistrate Judge’s May 29, 2007, Order (1) Granting in Part and Denying in Part Plaintiffs’ Motion to Require Defendants to Preserve and Produce Server Log Data and for Evidentiary Sanctions and (2) Denying Defendants’ Request for Attorneys’ Fees and Costs (the May 29 Order), on June 12, 2007.

STANDARD OF LAW

A district court will not modify or set aside a magistrate judge’s order unless it is “found to be clearly erroneous or contrary to law.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 72(a).1 The clearly erroneous standard applies to the magistrate judge’s factual findings while the contrary to law standard applies to the magistrate judge’s legal conclusions, which are reviewed de novo. See Wolpin v. Philip Morris, Inc., 189 F.R.D. 418, 422 (C.D.Cal.1999); see also Center for Biological Diversity v. Federal Highway Admin., 290 F.Supp.2d 1175, 1199— 1200 (S.D.Cal.2003) (quoting Weeks v. Samsung Heavy Indus. Co., Ltd., 126 F.3d 926, 943 (7th Cir.1997), for the proposition that “discretionary orders and will be overturned ‘only if the district court is left with the definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been made’ ”).

When reviewing discovery disputes, however, “the Magistrate is afforded broad discretion, which will be overruled only if abused.” Wright v. FBI, 385 F.Supp.2d 1038, 1041 (C.D.Cal.2005); Geophysical Sys. Corp. v. Raytheon Co., Inc., 117 F.R.D. 646, 647 (C.D.Cal.1987) (Tashima, J.) (questions of relevance in discovery context are reviewed under “the clearly implicit standard of abuse of discretion.”).

DISCUSSION

I. The Scope of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 34

At the heart of Defendants’ Motion for Review is the following question of first impression: is the information held in a computer’s random access memory (RAM) “electronically stored information” under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 34?

Defendants and amici seek to engraft on the definition of “stored” an additional requirement, that the information be not just stored, but stored “for later retrieval.” They argue that “electronically stored information” cannot include information held in RAM because the period of storage, which may be as much as six hours, is too temporary. The Court finds this interpretation of “stored” unsupported by the text of the Rule, the accompanying commentary of its drafters, or Ninth Circuit precedent involving RAM. The Court holds that data stored in RAM, however temporarily, is electronically stored information subject to discovery under the circumstances of the instant case.

First, even the definition amici supplied fails to support their argument that information written to and held in random access memory is not “stored.” As amici explain, according to the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary, to store means “to lay away, to accumulate or to place or leave in a location (as a warehouse, library, or computer memory) for preservation or later use or disposal.” Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (Frederick C. Mish et al. eds., 10th ed.1993) (emphasis added). It is undisputed that RAM is computer memory and that information held in RAM is held there for later use by the computer (e.g., to be used in tasks performed by software or written to a hard drive, flash drive, DVD, or other more permanent medium) or disposal (e.g., to be erased when the computer is turned off or when the data is overwritten with new information as part of the regular computing process).

The definition of “to store” from the Random House Dictionary of the English Language specific to the context of computers further undermines Defendants’ argument that RAM does not store data: “13. Computers, to put or retain (data) in a memory unit.” Random House dictionary of the En[447]*447glish Language (Stuart B. Flexner et al. eds., 2d ed.1987) (emphasis added). Under this definition, the information need not even be subsequently accessed or used; simply placing the data in the RAM module is sufficient for it to constitute electronically stored information.

In addition, RAM itself is defined as a storage unit, and, due to its speed relative to hard disk drives, is typically used as the computer’s primary storage: “Random Access Memory (RAM): A read/write, nonsequential-access memory used for the storage of instructions and data. Note 1: RAM access time is essentially the same for all storage locations. Note 2: RAM is characterized by a shorter access time than disk or tape storage.” National Communications System, Federal Standard 10S7C: Telecommunications: Glossary of Telecommunication Terms (Gen.Servs.Admin., 4th ed.1996) (emphasis added). Accordingly, information held in RAM is “stored” under the plain meaning of the unambiguous language of Rule 34.

Second, the Notes of the Advisory Committee to the 2006 Amendments to Rule 34, which amended the Rule to make explicit that it authorized discovery of information stored electronically,2 indicate that the definition was intended to be read expansively to include all current and future electronic storage mediums:

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
245 F.R.D. 443, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 63620, 2007 WL 2702062, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/columbia-pictures-inc-v-bunnell-cacd-2007.