Stebbins v. Google LLC
Issue
In *Stebbins v. Google LLC*, Rumble Inc. argues that a DMCA § 512(h) subpoena seeking to identify an anonymous user must be quashed both because its return date preceded service by 19 days — affording Rumble negative time to comply — and because compelling disclosure of the user's identity would violate the First Amendment right to speak anonymously, particularly where the content at issue appears to constitute political commentary on judicial accountability. The case raises the non-obvious question of whether a copyright enforcement tool expressly authorized by Congress in 1998 must nonetheless satisfy a constitutional balancing test before a court will compel a platform to unmask one of its users.
What Happened
Rumble Inc. filed this opening brief in a miscellaneous proceeding in the District of Delaware (No. 1:24-mc-00478), asking the court to quash a DMCA § 512(h) subpoena served by plaintiff David Stebbins in connection with an underlying copyright action against Google and Rumble. On the procedural ground, Rumble contends the subpoena is void on its face under Rule 45 because the compliance deadline had already passed by the time service was effected. On the constitutional ground, Rumble urges the court to adopt the two-part *Art of Living* test — requiring a prima facie showing of infringement and a balance of harms favoring disclosure — before any unmasking is compelled. Rumble further argues that the balance tips decisively against disclosure because the accused video was removed within two days, deanonymization would chill the user's 51 other non-accused videos, and Stebbins's prior strike history against the user's non-infringing content suggests an ulterior motive to silence a critic rather than remedy genuine infringement. Rumble also asserts its own independent editorial First Amendment interest in protecting its users' anonymity, invoking *Moody v. NetChoice* (2024). The brief seeks outright quashal or, in the alternative, a minimum of 14–21 days from resolution of the motion to respond.
Why It Matters
DMCA § 512(h) subpoenas are a routinely used mechanism for copyright holders to identify anonymous alleged infringers, but they simultaneously function as tools for unmasking internet users who may be engaged in protected speech — a tension Congress did not resolve when it enacted the statute in 1998. This brief illustrates an emerging litigation strategy in which platforms assert both user-side anonymity rights and their own editorial First Amendment interests as independent grounds to resist identity subpoenas, a combination that no circuit court has yet validated in this context. If courts without settled precedent begin adopting the *Art of Living* balancing framework, copyright holders will face a meaningfully higher threshold to obtain user identities through § 512(h). The ulterior-motive theory is also worth watching: if credited by courts, it could eventually support sanctions or abuse-of-process arguments against serial DMCA filers who use the subpoena mechanism to identify critics rather than remedy genuine infringement.
Related Filings
Other proceedings in the same litigation tracked by this monitor.
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