Reddit should have to identify users who discussed piracy, film studios tell court

Film studios that filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against a cable Internet provider are trying to force Reddit to identify users who posted comments about piracy.

The lawsuit was filed in 2021 against cable company RCN in the US District Court in New Jersey by Bodyguard Productions, Millennium Media, and other film companies over downloads of 34 movies such as Hellboy, Rambo V: Last Blood, Tesla, and The Hitman's Bodyguard. In an attempt to prove that RCN turned a blind eye to users downloading copyrighted movies, the plaintiffs sent a subpoena to Reddit last month seeking identifying information for nine users.

Plaintiffs specifically asked Reddit for "IP address registration and logs from 1/1/2016 to present, name, email address and other account registration information" for nine users. Reddit's response provided at least some information about one user but no information on any of the other eight. According to the film studios, Reddit argued that "the requests for identifying information associated with the additional eight accounts are more in the nature of a fishing expedition and are neither relevant nor permissible under the First Amendment."

Now, the studios want a federal court to force Reddit's hand. The film companies last week filed a motion to compel Reddit to respond to the subpoena in US District Court for the Northern District of California. The latest filing and the ongoing dispute over the subpoena were detailed in a TorrentFreak article published Saturday.

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"The evidence Plaintiff requests from Reddit in the Rule 45 subpoena is clearly relevant and proportional to the needs of the case," the film studios' motion said. The Reddit users' comments allegedly "establish that RCN has not reasonably implemented a policy for terminating repeat infringers," that "RCN controls the conduct of its subscribers and monitors its subscribers' access," and "establish that the ability to freely pirate without consequence was a draw to becoming a subscriber of RCN."

Reddit user called RCN “fairly lax” 8 years ago

For example, the filmmakers want to identify Reddit user ChikaraFan because the user once wrote that "RCN seems fairly lax... I looked up before I switched and had little trouble." The motion to compel describes the subpoena dispute as follows:

Reddit argues that "The post from "ChikaraFan" mentions RCN, but is eight years old and therefore well beyond the three-year statute of limitations we understand applies in this matter. This argument misses the point. Plaintiffs do not wish to hold ChikaraFan liable for copyright infringement. Rather, Plaintiffs wish to use ChikaraFan's statement as evidence of RCN's "fairly lax" policy for terminating repeat infringers and that this "fairly lax" policy was a draw for becoming a customer. Even though the statement was made eight years ago, Plaintiffs can use the information requested in the subpoena to contact ChikaraFan and authenticate her/his post to obtain evidence to support their claims.

Plaintiffs say Reddit's argument should be rejected because, under federal rules, "discoverable information does not need to be admissible in evidence." But the Reddit posts could help the studios counter RCN's argument that it "does not monitor subscriber access or have any ability control subscriber conduct," the motion said. In one case, the film studios say a Reddit post from 13 years ago "establishes that RCN has the technical ability [to monitor users]. If RCN had the ability 13 years ago, it certainly still has the ability now."

Studios: We won’t retaliate against the users

The film studios claimed the information they're seeking from Reddit "does not implicate the First Amendment Right to anonymous speech." The studios also wrote that "Reddit provided its users with notification of the subpoena and an opportunity to make objections yet none of its users made an objection."

"Reddit has not identified any potential harm to these users by disclosing the information," the motion said. "Plaintiffs are not seeking to retaliate economically or officially against these subscribers. Rather, Plaintiffs just wish to discuss the comments the subscribers made and use their comments as evidence that RCN monitors and controls the conduct of its subscribers, RCN has no meaningful policy for terminating repeat infringers and this lax or no policy was a draw for using RCN's service."

The film studios are also seeking identifying details on users who discussed piracy but didn't specifically mention RCN. Two of the users wrote in Reddit comments that they work for an ISP, and the film studios want those users' identifying details on the theory that they might work for one of the companies in the Astound Broadband group. (RCN is now known as Astound Broadband after being combined with several other cable ISPs in the same ownership group.)