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Twitter Must Reveal User's Information To Audio Company

By Stan Soocher
January 30, 2015

A magistrate for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California granted an audio equipment manufacturer's motion to enforce a subpoena requiring case non-party Twitter to reveal the names of account users who allegedly defamed the manufacturer. Music Group Macao Commercial Offshore Ltd. v. John Does I-IX, 14-mc-80328. Twitter had asked the court to consider whether the First Amendment right of account users to anonymous protected speech was being properly considered.'

Magistrate Laurel Beeler found 'that, at this stage of the case and on this record, Music Group's interest in the requested information does outweigh any infraction of the Doe defendants' right to speak anonymously. First, the information sought is narrowly tailored to Music Group's need to serve process. ' Music Group asks for only the 'name, address, email address and any proxy address' of the accounts' owners. That is the basic information that will allow Music Group to identify the defendants and serve the complaint.' The magistrate concluded: 'The identity of the Doe defendants is more than basically relevant to that need; it is effectively indispensable.'

Stan Soocher is Editor-in-Chief of Entertainment Law & Finance and a tenured Associate Professor of Music & Entertainment Industry Studies at the University of Colorado's Denver Campus. He is the 2014 recipient of the State Bar of Texas Entertainment & Sports Law Section's 'Texas Star Award.' Stan can be reached at [email protected] or via www.stansoocher.com.

A magistrate for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California granted an audio equipment manufacturer's motion to enforce a subpoena requiring case non-party Twitter to reveal the names of account users who allegedly defamed the manufacturer. Music Group Macao Commercial Offshore Ltd. v. John Does I-IX, 14-mc-80328. Twitter had asked the court to consider whether the First Amendment right of account users to anonymous protected speech was being properly considered.'

Magistrate Laurel Beeler found 'that, at this stage of the case and on this record, Music Group's interest in the requested information does outweigh any infraction of the Doe defendants' right to speak anonymously. First, the information sought is narrowly tailored to Music Group's need to serve process. ' Music Group asks for only the 'name, address, email address and any proxy address' of the accounts' owners. That is the basic information that will allow Music Group to identify the defendants and serve the complaint.' The magistrate concluded: 'The identity of the Doe defendants is more than basically relevant to that need; it is effectively indispensable.'

Stan Soocher is Editor-in-Chief of Entertainment Law & Finance and a tenured Associate Professor of Music & Entertainment Industry Studies at the University of Colorado's Denver Campus. He is the 2014 recipient of the State Bar of Texas Entertainment & Sports Law Section's 'Texas Star Award.' Stan can be reached at [email protected] or via www.stansoocher.com.

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