Joinder in DOE Suits

A California federal judge rejected joinder of John Does 2-5 in a P2P suit filed by the multiple record labels. See Rules 20 and 21 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. In its order denying plaintiff's motion for reconsideration, the court cited authority for its holding:

...numerous courts have held the opposite: that joinder of defendants who allegedly downloaded music using the same ISP and the same file-sharing program is improper. See, e.g., Interscope Records v. Doe, No. 04-0197 (M.D. Fla. Apr. 1, 2004) (severing defendants who used the same ISP and same file-sharing program); see also BMG Music v. Doe, No. 06-CV-1579 (N.D. Cal. July 31, 2006) (severing defendants who used the same ISP); BMG Music v. Doe, No. 04-650 (E.D.Pa. Mar. 5, 2004) (same); Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp. v. Doe, No. C-04-4862 ("[The allegation that defendants used the same ISP] amounts to no more than a claim that ten unrelated defendants engaged in distinct and unrelated conduct.").

Analysis by Recording Industry v. the People here.

[Sony BMG Music Entertainment v. Does 1-5; No. Cv-07 2434-SJO (C.D.Cal denying plaintiff's motion for reconsideration entered Sep. 4, 2007) (Docket No. 9)]