Beatles Rights Holders Seek Unsealing of Documents in Internet Counterfeit-Trafficking Case

The public may soon get its first look into the identities of the defendants that Beatles rights holder Apple Corps and its Subafilms subsidiary, owner of the Yellow Submarine trademark, allege are trafficking in counterfeit goods on the internet (see 2304270048). The rights holders are seeking an order unsealing all documents that have been restricted or sealed from the court docket and returning all portions of the court file to the public domain, said its motion Friday (docket 0:23-cv-60769) in U.S. District Court for Southern Florida in Fort Lauderdale. The plaintiffs have already served the sealed temporary restraining order issued July 5 by the court “on the requisite financial institutions” to restrain the defendants’ bank accounts at issue in the case, it said. The defendants soon will be served with the sealed TRO, “together with all other documents filed in this case,” it said: “A seal on this matter is no longer required.” Temporarily sealing materials in the court file, including the identities of the defendants, will prevent the wrongdoers from prematurely receiving notice of the plaintiffs’ investigation into the operation of their illegal businesses, said the plaintiffs’ April 26 motion to seal (see 2304270048).