EBay Subpoena Valid Despite Removal Of Infringing Content Prior to Service

A subpoena on EBay Inc. to identify 61 users allegedly engaged in copyright infringement was valid and enforceable notwithstanding the fact that eBay had already taken down the allegedly infringing materials at the time the subpoena was served, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California held June 5 (In re DMCA Subpoena to EBay, Inc., S.D. Cal., 3:15-cv-00922-BEN-MDD, 6/5/15).

Judge Mitchell D. Dembin said that Section 512(h) of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act expressly allows enforcement of a subpoena against a service provider even if it took prior action to remove or disable the allegedly ...