Baylor v. The Herald Bulletin [1]

Darrell Baylor, an Indiana insurance agent, sued two anonymous defendants who allegedly defamed him in on the Hey Martha [2] forum, a cross-platform forum hosted by local newspaper The Herald Bulletin [3] and other websites. Baylor alleged that forum users "Jack Deth" and "Brent Leroy" accused him of drinking alcohol, whereas he claims [4] it is "a well known public fact that the Plaintiff has not had any type or form of alcoholic beverage since 1994."

Baylor subpoenaed The Herald Bulletin [3] and its parent company Community Newspaper Holdings Inc., seeking the identities of the posters.  According to a Bulletin report [4], the paper filed a motion to quash the subpoena on the ground that it did not own or operate the forum and did not have the requested information. The paper also argued that the subpoena was invalid because it was overbroad and possibly violated the posters' privacy rights.

At a court hearing, the judge ordered the Bulletin to tell Baylor who had responsibility for the forum so that Baylor could serve a subpoena on that party.  Lawyers for the Bulletin identified Seattle-based Groupee Inc. as the operator of the forum.  The Bulletin's lawyers also argued that the court should appoint counsel to represent the anonymous posters in defending their right to remain anonymous.