John Wiley & Sons, Inc. v. Book Dog Books, LLC

298 F.R.D. 184, 2014 WL 1243804, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 41285
District Court, S.D. New York·Decided March 26, 2014·No. No. 13 Civ. 816 (WHP)(GWG)·Published·Cited by 40 cases

Opinion

MEMORANDUM ORDER

GABRIEL W. GORENSTEIN, United States Magistrate Judge.

Nonparty Thomas Cahill has moved for a protective order that would allow him to refuse to provide (1) the identity of suppliers or vendors with whom he conducts business to the extent these entities have not supplied him with any books in which plaintiffs hold rights and (2) the names of books he deals in that are not published by plaintiffs.1 Cahill seeks the protective order on the basis that these categories of information are not relevant to any of plaintiffs’ claims and are trade secrets.

At the outset, we reject any contention by plaintiffs that the Court has already ruled that these categories of information are relevant. See PI. Opp. at 5. The prior ruling cited by plaintiffs was in the context of a request by plaintiffs that they be provided with unredacted versions of emails and other documents that otherwise contained relevant information. See Letter, dated Feb. 4, 2014 (Docket #74), at 2-3. The Court ordered production of unredacted versions of these documents, see Transcript of Proceedings, [186]*186held Feb. 13, 2014 (Docket #85), at 15, because redactions of portions of a document are normally impermissible unless the redac-tions are based on a legal privilege. See generally In re State Street Bank and Trust Co. Fixed Income Funds Inv. Litig., 2009 WL 1026013, at *1 (S.D.N.Y. Apr. 8, 2009) (directing parties not to “redact any portion of a document on the ground that the portion is non-responsive and irrelevant” because such redactions “breed suspicions” and “may deprive the reader of context”). Thus, while supplier information was among the categories of information that were ultimately required to be produced, the Court did not address the issue of whether that information was independently relevant.

Governing Legal Standards

Under Rule 26(b)(1) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, parties may obtain discovery of any non-privileged information “that is relevant to any party’s claim or defense.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 26(b)(1). The evidence “need not be admissible at the trial if the discovery appears reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence.” Id. Courts have recognized that “[although not unlimited, relevance, for purposes of discovery, is an extremely broad concept.” Condit v. Dunne, 225 F.R.D. 100, 105 (S.D.N.Y.2004) (citations omitted). Thus, the Rule 26(b)(1) standard presents a “relatively low threshold” for a party to show that the material sought is relevant to any claim or defense in the litigation. In re Zyprexa Injunction, 474 F.Supp.2d 385, 421 (E.D.N.Y.2007).

Even where information is relevant, Rule 26(b)(2)(C)(i)-(iii) authorizes a court to limit otherwise permissible discovery where, among other things, the discovery sought is “unreasonably cumulative,” the party seeking the discovery has had “ample opportunity” to obtain the information sought, or “the burden or expense of the proposed discovery outweighs its likely benefit.” Additionally, Rule 26(c)(1) provides that, where “good cause” is demonstrated, the court may forbid discovery “to protect a party or person from annoyance, embarrassment, oppression, or undue burden or expense.... ” Rule 26(c) “confers broad powers upon the court to limit or prevent discovery even though the information sought is relevant and within the scope of Rule 26(b).” Coyne v. Houss, 584 F.Supp. 1105, 1109 (E.D.N.Y.1984). It specifically contemplates that in the case of “trade secret[s] or other confidential ... commercial information,” that the Court may order that such information be not revealed at all or be revealed “only in a specified way.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 26(c)(1)(G).

Where a party objects to a discovery request, the “objecting party bears the burden of demonstrating ‘specifically how, despite the broad and liberal construction afforded the federal discovery rules, each [request] is not relevant or how each question is overly broad, burdensome or oppressive by submitting affidavits or offering evidence revealing the nature of the burden.’ ” McKissick v. Three Deer Ass’n Ltd. P’ship, 265 F.R.D. 55, 56-57 (D.Conn.2010) (quoting Compagnie Francaise d'Assurance Pour le Commerce Exterieur v. Phillips Petroleum Co., 105 F.R.D. 16, 42 (S.D.N.Y.1984) (alteration in original)). “General and conelusory objections as to relevance, overbreadth, or burden are insufficient to exclude discovery of requested information.” Melendez v. Greiner, 2003 WL 22434101, at *1 (S.D.N.Y. Oct. 23, 2003).

To the extent a party seeks a protective order under Rule 26(c), that party “has the burden of showing that good cause exists for issuance of that order.” Gambale v. Deutsche Bank AG, 377 F.3d 133, 142 (2d Cir.2004); accord Duling v. Gristede’s Operating Corp., 266 F.R.D. 66, 71 (S.D.N.Y.2010) (citing cases). “Ordinarily, good cause exists when a party shows that disclosure will result in a clearly defined, specific and serious injury.” In re Terrorist Attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, 454 F.Supp.2d 220, 222 (S.D.N.Y.2006) (internal quotations and citations omitted); see also Allen v. City of New York, 420 F.Supp.2d 295, 302 (S.D.N.Y.2006) (good cause under Rule 26(c) requires demonstrating a “clearly defined and serious injury” that would result from disclosure) (citations omitted). Additionally, “the harm must be significant, not a mere trifle.” Duling, 266 F.R.D. at 71 (quoting Schiller v. City of New York, 2007 WL 136149, at *5 (S.D.N.Y. Jan. [187]*18717, 2007)). The Second Circuit has cautioned that Rule 26(c) “is not a blanket authorization for the court to prohibit disclosure of information whenever it deems it advisable to do so, but is rather a grant of power to impose conditions on discovery in order to prevent injury, harassment, or abuse of the court’s processes.” Bridge C.A.T. Scan Assocs. v. Technicare Corp., 710 F.2d 940, 944-45 (2d Cir.1983). Ultimately, “[t]he grant and nature of protection is singularly within the discretion of the district court.” Dove v. Atl. Capital Corp., 963 F.2d 15, 19 (2d Cir.1992) (citation omitted).

Relevance of the Sought-After Information

Here, plaintiffs have made a sufficient showing that the sought-after information fits within Rule 26(b)(l)’s broad definition of relevance. As plaintiffs note, information about Cahill’s interactions with suppliers may demonstrate “whether Defendants have continued to purchase from known counterfeiters” — a fact that would tend to show willful copyright infringement. PI. Opp. at 8-9. A copyright defendant’s infringing activities, even with respect to works in which the plaintiff has no rights, are relevant to arriving at a damages award in the event liability is established. See, e.g., Lauratex Textile Corp. v. Allton Knitting Mills Inc., 517 F.Supp.

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John Wiley & Sons, Inc. v. Book Dog Books, LLC, 298 F.R.D. 184, 2014 WL 1243804, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 41285 (S.D.N.Y. 2014).

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