Recording Industry Association of America, Inc. v. Verizon Internet Services, Inc.

351 F.3d 1229, 359 U.S. App. D.C. 85, 31 Communications Reg. (P&F) 438, 69 U.S.P.Q. 2d (BNA) 1075, 2003 U.S. App. LEXIS 25735
CourtCourt of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
DecidedDecember 19, 2003
Docket03-7015 & 03-7053
StatusPublished
Cited by24 cases

This text of 351 F.3d 1229 (Recording Industry Association of America, Inc. v. Verizon Internet Services, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Recording Industry Association of America, Inc. v. Verizon Internet Services, Inc., 351 F.3d 1229, 359 U.S. App. D.C. 85, 31 Communications Reg. (P&F) 438, 69 U.S.P.Q. 2d (BNA) 1075, 2003 U.S. App. LEXIS 25735 (D.C. Cir. 2003).

Opinion

Opinion for the Court filed by Chief Judge GINSBURG.

GINSBURG, Chief Judge:

This case concerns the Recording Industry Association of America’s use of the subpoena provision of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. § 512(h), to identify internet users the RIAA believes are infringing the copyrights of its members. The RIAA served two subpoenas upon Verizon Internet Services in order to discover the names of two Verizon subscribers who appeared to be trading large numbers of .mp3 files of copyrighted music via “peer-to-peer” (P2P) file sharing programs, such as KaZaA. Verizon refused to comply with the subpoenas on various legal grounds.

The district court rejected Verizon’s statutory and constitutional challenges to § 512(h) and ordered the internet service provider (ISP) to disclose to the RIAA the names of the two subscribers. On appeal Verizon presents three alternative arguments for reversing the orders of the district court: (1) § 512(h) does not authorize the issuance of a subpoena to an ISP acting solely as a conduit for communications the content of which is determined by others; if the statute does authorize such a subpoena, then the statute is unconstitutional because (2) the district court lacked Article III jurisdiction to issue a subpoena with no underlying “case or controversy” pending before the court; and (3) § 512(h) violates the First Amendment because it lacks sufficient safeguards to protect an internet user’s ability to speak and to associate anonymously. Because we agree with Verizon’s interpretation of the statute, we reverse the orders of the district court enforcing the subpoenas and do not reach either of Verizon’s constitutional arguments. *

I. Background

Individuals with a personal computer and access to the internet began to offer digital copies of recordings for download by other users, an activity known as file sharing, in the late 1990’s using a program called Napster. Although recording companies and music publishers successfully obtained an injunction against Napster’s facilitating the sharing of files containing copyrighted recordings, see A&M Records, Inc. v. Napster, Inc., 284 F.3d 1091 (9th Cir.2002); A&M Records, Inc. v. Napster, Inc., 239 F.3d 1004 (9th Cir.2001), millions of people in the United States and around the world continue to share digital .mp3 files of copyrighted recordings using P2P computer programs such as KaZaA, Morpheus, Grokster, and eDonkey. See John Borland, File Swapping Shifts Up a Gear (May 27, 2003), available at http://news.com.com/2100-1026-1009742.html, *1232 (last visited December 2, 2003). Unlike Napster, which relied upon a centralized communication architecture to identify the .mp3 files available for download, the current generation of P2P file sharing programs allow an internet user to search directly the .mp3 file libraries of other users; no web site is involved. See Douglas Lichtman & William Landes, Indirect Liability for Copyright Infringement: An Economic Perspective, 16 Harv. J. Law & Tech. 395, 403, 408-09 (2003). To date, owners of copyrights have not been able to stop the use of these decentralized programs. See Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Inc. v. Grokster, Ltd., 259 F.Supp.2d 1029 (C.D.Cal.2003) (holding Grokster not eontributorily liable for copyright infringement by users of its P2P file sharing program).

The RIAA now has begun to direct its anti-infringement efforts against individual users of P2P file sharing programs. In order to pursue apparent infringers the RIAA needs to be able to identify the individuals who are sharing and trading-files using P2P programs. The RIAA can readily obtain the screen name of an individual user, and using the Internet Protocol (IP) address associated with that screen name, can trace the user to his ISP. Only the ISP, however, can link the IP address used to access a P2P program with the name and address of a person - the ISP’s customer - who can then be contacted or, if need be, sued by the RIAA.

The RIAA has used the subpoena provisions of § 512(h) of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) to compel ISPs to disclose the names of subscribers whom the RIAA has reason to believe are infringing its members’ copyrights. See 17 U.S.C. § 512(h)(1) (copyright owner may “request the clerk of any United States district court to issue a subpoena to [an ISP] for identification of an alleged in-fringer”). Some ISPs have complied with the RIAA’s § 512(h) subpoenas and identified the names of the subscribers sought by the RIAA. The RIAA has sent letters to and filed lawsuits against several hundred such individuals, each of whom allegedly made available for download by other users hundreds or in some cases even thousands of .mp3 files of copyrighted recordings. Verizon refused to comply with and instead has challenged the validity of the two § 512(h) subpoenas it has received.

A copyright owner (or its agent, such as the RIAA) must file three items along with its request that the Clerk of a district court issue a subpoena: (1) a “notification of claimed infringement” identifying the copyrighted work(s) claimed to have been infringed and the infringing material or activity, and providing information reasonably sufficient for the ISP to locate the material, all as further specified in § 512(c)(3)(A); (2) the proposed subpoena directed to the ISP; and (3) a sworn declaration that the purpose of the subpoena is “to obtain the identity of an alleged in-fringer and that such information will only be used for the purpose of protecting” rights under the copyright laws of the United States. 17 U.S.C. §§ 512(h)(2)(A)-(C). If the copyright owner’s request contains all three items, then the Clerk “shall expeditiously issue and sign the proposed subpoena and return it to the requester for delivery to the [ISP].” 17 U.S.C. § 512(h)(4). Upon receipt of the subpoena the ISP is “authorize^] and order[ed]” to disclose to the copyright owner the identity of the alleged infringer. See 17 U.S.C. §§ 512(h)(3), (5).

On July 24, 2002 the RIAA served Verizon with a subpoena issued pursuant to § 512(h), seeking the identity of a subscriber whom the RIAA believed to be *1233 engaged in infringing activity.

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Bluebook (online)
351 F.3d 1229, 359 U.S. App. D.C. 85, 31 Communications Reg. (P&F) 438, 69 U.S.P.Q. 2d (BNA) 1075, 2003 U.S. App. LEXIS 25735, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/recording-industry-association-of-america-inc-v-verizon-internet-cadc-2003.