Will the Northern District of Illinois’ Mandatory Initial Discovery Pilot program end copyright trolling in the District?
By Jonathan LA Phillips
Intellectual Property,
September 2017
The Northern District of Illinois ordered a Mandatory Initial Discovery Pilot Program (MIDP) beginning 1 June 2017. Before 1 June 2017, the earliest discovery available to copyright-troll defendants were Rule 26(a) disclosures; the MIDP expands parties’ responsibilities at the outset of the case. Before MIDP, plaintiffs were only required to provide information that it might use to support its claims. Now, MIDP parties must provide mandatory disclosures of information “regardless of whether they intend to use the information in presenting their claims or defenses” and “whether favorable or unfavorable.” Some copyright infringement defendants have paid settlements rather than undertaking the cost of proving their innocence. The new MIDP rules level the playing field of questionable complaints, especially against bulk copyright complaints lacking core plaintiff evidence.
How will the FRCP’s amendments affect BitTorrent litigation?
By Jonathan LA Phillips
Intellectual Property,
September 2016
The Supreme Court recently amended the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The changes focused, in part, on the need for early and active judicial case management, ensuring cases do not stall at the outset, and ESI preservation. The new Rules became effective on December 1, 2015. Attorneys handling BitTorrent related copyright litigation should take note, given the amendments’ focus. This is particularly true for the Illinois attorney, because the Northern District of Illinois remains a hotbed of copyright litigation involving the BitTorrent protocol. Accordingly, these amendments should change the way Northern District judges approach these cases.
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