Cameo Clips

A magistrate for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York granted a bank's motion to quash a subpoena, under Rule 45(c)(3) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, that sought documents from the financial institution in the damages phase of a film-distribution suit over the movie Miss Conception (originally titled Buy Borrow Steal). Blue Angel Films Ltd. v. First Look Studios Inc., 08 Civ. 6469. In this case, film producers sued their distributor for funds owed. After obtaining favorable summary judgment on their breach of contract claim, the plaintiffs sought documents from Bank of America related to non-party Millennium Entertainment's acquisition of defendant First Look.

Federal Magistrate James C. Francis IV noted that the plaintiffs “seek the subpoenaed information in order to be able to collect their damages from Millennium if First Look fails to meet its obligations.” But Magistrate Francis emphasized: “Here, of course, the plaintiffs have yet to be granted a judgment. Second, the plaintiffs apparently intend to implead Millennium as a defendant and contend that the requested information would be relevant to claims against Millennium.” However, the magistrate concluded: “Since Millennium is not now a party to this action, information relevant only to potential claims against that entity is not discoverable.”