Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-cand-3_07-cv-06027/USCOURTS-cand-3_07-cv-06027-1/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
John Doe
Defendant
Elektra Entertainment Group Inc.
Plaintiff
Sony BMG Music Entertainment
Plaintiff
UMG Recordings, Inc.
Plaintiff

Document Text:

Ex Parte Application to Continue CMC and Extend Time to Serve Defendant and [Proposed] Order 

Case No. 3:07-cv-06027-EDL 

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Matthew Franklin Jaksa (CA State Bar No. 248072) 

HOLME ROBERTS & OWEN LLP

560 Mission Street, 25th Floor 

San Francisco, CA 94105-2994 

Telephone: (415) 268-2000 

Facsimile: (415) 268-1999 

Email: matt.jaksa@hro.com 

Attorneys for Plaintiffs, 

ELEKTRA ENTERTAINMENT GROUP 

INC.; UMG RECORDINGS, INC.; and 

SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT 

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 

SAN FRANCISCO DIVISION 

ELEKTRA ENTERTAINMENT GROUP INC., 

a Delaware corporation; UMG RECORDINGS, 

INC., a Delaware corporation; and SONY BMG 

MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT, a Delaware 

general partnership, 

Plaintiffs, 

v. 

JOHN DOE, 

Defendant. 

CASE NO. 3:07-CV-06027-EDL 

Honorable Elizabeth D. Laporte 

EX PARTE APPLICATION TO CONTINUE 

CASE MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE 

AND EXTEND TIME TO SERVE 

DEFENDANT AND [PROPOSED] ORDER

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Ex Parte Application to Continue CMC and Extend Time to Serve Defendant and [Proposed] Order 

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Plaintiffs respectfully request that the Court continue the case management conference 

currently set for March 4, 2008, at 10:00 a.m. to June 10, 2008. Plaintiffs further request, pursuant 

to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Rules 4(m) and 6(b)(1)(A), that the Court grant an 

additional 90 days to serve Defendant with the Summons and Complaint. As further explained 

below, Plaintiffs have not yet discovered the identity of the Doe defendant in this case, and cannot 

move this case forward until they do so. In support of their request, Plaintiffs state as follows: 

1. The initial case management conference is currently scheduled for March 4, 2008, at 

10:00 a.m. The current deadline for service of process is March 28, 2008. No previous 

continuances or extensions have been requested or granted in this case. 

2. Plaintiffs filed their Complaint for Copyright Infringement against Defendant John 

Doe (“Defendant”) on November 29, 2007. Plaintiffs did not have sufficient identifying information 

to name Defendant in the Complaint, but were able to identify Defendant by the Internet Protocol 

address assigned by Defendant’s Internet Service Provider (“ISP”). Accordingly, in order to 

determine Defendant’s true name and identity, Plaintiffs filed their Ex Parte Application for Leave 

to Take Immediate Discovery on November 29, 2007, requesting that the Court enter an Order 

allowing Plaintiffs to serve a Rule 45 subpoena on the ISP. 

3. The Court entered an Order for Leave to take Immediate Discovery on January 29, 

2008, which was promptly served upon the ISP along with a Rule 45 subpoena. Plaintiffs expect the 

ISP to respond to the subpoena on March 14, 2008. 

4. Once Plaintiffs receive the Doe Defendant’s identifying information, Plaintiffs intend 

to send a letter to Defendant notifying him or her of Plaintiffs’ claims and inviting Defendant to 

contact Plaintiffs and attempt resolution of the dispute. If the dispute cannot be resolved, Plaintiffs 

intend to file a First Amended Complaint naming Defendant personally, and then proceed to serve 

process upon him or her. 

5. Given the foregoing circumstances, and because Plaintiffs will not learn Defendant’s 

identity until after the date of the currently scheduled case management conference, Plaintiffs 

respectfully request that the case management conference be continued to June 10, 2008, or such 

other date as conveniences the Court. 

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6. Plaintiffs also request an additional 90 days to effectuate service. Given that the 

current deadline for service of process expires just fourteen days after Plaintiffs expect to learn 

Defendant’s identity, Plaintiffs would be left with little time to contact Defendant and attempt to 

resolve the dispute, or to amend the Complaint and begin service attempts on Defendant if attempts 

to resolve the dispute fail. 

7. Plaintiffs submit that their plans to notify Defendant of their claims (once he or she is 

identified) and attempt to resolve the case before naming him or her in the lawsuit constitute good 

cause under Rule 4(m) for any delay in perfecting service. See, e.g., Matasareanu v. Williams, 183 

F.R.D. 242, 245-46 (C.D. Cal. 1998) (stating good cause standard for service extensions); Ritts v. 

Dealers Alliance Credit Corp., 989 F. Supp. 1475, 1479 (N.D. Ga. 1997) (same). Moreover, unlike 

a traditional case in which the defendant is known by name and efforts to serve can begin 

immediately after filing the complaint, in this case Plaintiffs first must obtain the identity of the 

defendant through the subpoena to the ISP, a process which is not yet complete. This Court has 

discretion to enlarge the time to serve even where there is no good cause shown. Henderson v. 

United States, 517 U.S. 654, 658 n. 5 (1996). 

8. Because the copyright infringements here occurred in 2007, the three-year limitations 

period for these claims has not expired. See 17 U.S.C. § 507(b) (2000). There can thus be no 

prejudice to Defendant from any delay in serving the Complaint. 

9. Plaintiffs will provide the Defendant with a copy of this request and any Order 

concerning this request when service of process occurs. 

Dated: February 22, 2008 HOLME ROBERTS & OWEN LLP 

By: __________/s/ Matthew Franklin Jaksa___

MATTHEW FRANKLIN JAKSA 

Attorney for Plaintiffs 

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[PROPOSED] ORDER

 Good cause having been shown: 

IT IS ORDERED that the case management conference currently set for March 4, 2008, at 

10:00 a.m. be continued to June 10, 2008. 

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that, pursuant to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Rules 

4(m) and 6(b)(1), Plaintiffs’ time to serve the Summons and Complaint on Defendant be extended to 

June 26, 2008. 

Dated: ___________________ By: _____________________________ 

Honorable Elizabeth D. Laporte 

United States Magistrate Judge 

February 27, 2008

A case management conference statement shall be filed 

no later than June 3, 2008.

U

NITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

IT IS SO ORDERED

Judge Elizabeth D. Laporte

Case 3:07-cv-06027-MMC Document 10 Filed 02/27/08 Page 4 of 4