Media Alert: Court Hearing Monday for Redditor Fighting to Stay Anonymous

San Francisco – On Monday, May 6 at 11am, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) will argue that a San Francisco court should quash a subpoena from the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society aimed at getting the identity of an anonymous Reddit commenter.

Watch Tower is the supervising body and publisher of all religious doctrines for the Jehovah’s Witnesses. EFF’s client is a lifelong member of the Jehovah’s Witness community, and has used the handle “darkspilver” to share comments and spark discussion about the religious organization in one of Reddit’s online discussion groups. Watch Tower subpoenaed Reddit for information on darkspilver earlier this year, claiming it was part of a potential copyright lawsuit over material shared in the Reddit group.

In Monday’s hearing, EFF Staff Attorney Alex Moss will argue that darkspilver’s use of any copyrighted material was a lawful fair use—a legal way to reuse content without permission. Additionally, the First Amendment protects anonymous speech, so that people can express—and access—controversial thoughts and opinions without fear of reprisal.

WHAT:
Hearing re DMCA Section 512(h) Subpoena to Reddit, Inc.

WHO:
EFF Staff Attorney Alex Moss

WHEN:
Monday, May 6
11 am

WHERE:
San Francisco Courthouse
Courtroom C – 15th Floor
450 Golden Gate Ave.
San Francisco, CA 94102

For more on this case:
https://www.eff.org/cases/re-dmca-section-512h-subpoena-reddit-inc