It may have come as quite a shock if you have received a notice in the mail of Strike 3 Holdings’ intent to name you in a lawsuit. Or maybe you received a letter from your internet service provider advising you that someone has filed a subpoena to discover your information so that they can serve you with notice of a lawsuit. Their allegations might be that you illegally downloaded copyrighted movies or videos through torrent sites such as BitTorrent.
If this is the case, you might be wondering if your name will be made public in connection with the lawsuit on public court documents, and what you can do to prevent that.
Don’t delay in contacting an attorney
When faced with the prospects of a long and expensive legal battle, you might be tempted to set the letter aside to deal with later. But in copyright cases, the faster you take action to combat the allegations, the better your situation could be.
You might be confused as to how you ended up in this situation in the first place, or what you did to deserve a lawsuit against you. An experienced torrent defense attorney will be able to explain how the copyright infringement defense process works, and what your best options are for your particular situation.
The good news is that, when you received the letter, your name was still anonymous. The longer you take to respond to the letter, however, the more likely it will be that your accusers will be able to obtain your name and address – and move forward with publicly naming you in a lawsuit. That’s why, if you act quickly and decisively, you might be able to deal with the situation and avoid having your name made public at all.
You have options
There are a few different steps your attorney can take to keep your identity private. For example, if it makes financial sense for your particular situation, your attorney could file a motion to quash the subpoena that your accuser is using to try to get your personal information. If that is successful, they will be unable to name you in the lawsuit.
You could also settle the case before your accuser files the lawsuit. In some circumstances, this can be the quickest and easiest way to deal with the case and get it behind you.
When it comes to copyright infringement accusations, time is definitely of the essence. While there’s no guarantee that you’ll be successful in your defense, acting as fast as possible is the best way to increase your chances of resolving the issue without having your name publicly attached to this type of lawsuit.