Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society v. Doe a/k/a Kevin McFree

The Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, better known as the Jehovah’s Witnesses, sued an anonymous poster for infringing its copyright by posting on YouTube a satirical video that incorporates content created by Watch Tower. Initially, it served a DMCA subpoena seeking to identify Doe, but a trial judge quashed that subpoena on the ground that Doe’s video was fair use. Watch Tower then filed a lawsuit against Doe. Public Citizen represents Doe in that case, opposing Doe’s identification on the ground that the fair use decision is res judicata and that, in addition, Doe’s interest in anonymity outweighs Watch Tower’s claimed need to pursue an infringement claim.