Comment by bravura | Hacker News Reader

Comment by bravura | Hacker News Reader

Aren't the details from the discovery process private? Can one party in a lawsuit use information gleaned during discovery as part of its PR efforts?

From a press release from the patent troll:

"When Personal Audio first began its litigation, it was under the impression that Carolla, the self-proclaimed largest podcaster in the world, as well as certain other podcasters, were making significant money from infringing Personal Audio’s patents. After the parties completed discovery, however, it became clear this was not the case. As a result, Personal Audio began to offer dismissals from the case to the podcasting companies involved, rather than to litigate over the smaller amounts of money at issue."

http://personalaudio.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Carolla-...

No, details from discovery are not private.

But Personal Audio is lying in their press release. They want to drop the case because Carolla is fighting back.

Depends on whether or not there is a Confidentiality/Protective Order in place, and if so, what the terms of such an Order say. Almost every case of this nature would be subject to some sort of Confidentiality/Protective Order. Generally, the parties would be able to designate documents, deposition testimony, etc., as Confidential. Sometimes there are multiple levels of confidentiality baked into one of these orders (for example, a "HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL" designation might mean that only outside counsel can review a produced document).

Generally, documents marked as such must be filed under seal, cannot be disclosed publicly, etc.

Surely Adam Carolla's representatives can release characterizations of the amount of money he's making off podcasting with his permission, regardless of whether or not the details of his podcasting income were subject to discovery or not. The plaintiff would reasonably not be able to release information it sought from the defendant, but the defendant can obviously release his own personal information at will.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com