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CREA TIVEFIRST COPYRIGHT 101

“John Doe” orders, aka “Ashok Kumar” orders, are typically procured by
producers to curb piracy of their lms where it is not possible to identify the
defendants. However, they are not limited to copyright only, it has also been
applied to the cases of trademark and other laws. “John Doe” orders enable
the order to be served upon persons whose identity is unknown to the plaintiff
at the time the action was commenced, but whose activity falls within the
scope of the action. Since it is not possible to determine the infringers at the
time of ling the suit, it is led against unknown defendants and hence the
name “John Doe”. This concept of “John Doe” orders is well entrenched in
the common law jurisdictions of Canada, America, Australia and UK.

For instance, with piracy being rampant immediately after release of films,
a film producer may procure a “John Doe” order in the form of a quia timet
action i.e. prior to release of the film in apprehension of piracy against known
and unknown infringing websites and may ask the court to direct internet
service providers to block access to such rogue piracy websites. Such an
action can also be taken after the infringement is known by filing a copyright
infringement suit against such infringing websites.

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