Right to Use Internet Anonymously Not a License to Infringe

by Janette Spencer-Davis, Legal Editor, CCH Copyright Law Reports   

A subpoena served on an Internet service provider (a university) to learn the identity of an Internet user (a student), who allegedly downloaded and distributed music to the public via an online file-sharing network, was properly enforced by a magistrate judge, the U.S. Court of Appeals in New York City held. The user's "modest" First Amendment right to use the Internet "anonymously" was not a license to infringe copyrights, reasoned the court of appeals. Anonymity could not be used to mask copyright infringement or to facilitate such infringement by other persons.

The First Amendment provides a right to communicate anonymously and, thus, a right to use the Internet anonymously. However, the magistrate judge noted that there was a need to balance the "modest First Amendment right to remain anonymous" against "a copyright owner's right to disclosure of the identity of a possible trespasser of its intellectual property interest." Accordingly, in determining whether or not to quash the subpoena, the magistrate judge evaluated the Internet user's: (1) expectation of privacy; (2) the prima facie strength of the copyright owners' claims of injury; (3) the specificity of the discovery request; (4) the copyright owners' need for the information; and (5) the availability of the information through other means. He found that each of the factors counseled against quashing the subpoena. Accordingly, a district court's order denying the Internet user's motion to quash the subpoena was affirmed (Arista Records, LLC v. Doe 3, 2ndCir, ¶29,937).