Party

John Doe

Federal civil lawsuits naming John Doe.

In this index, 3,240 federal civil lawsuits name a party recorded as John Doe, most often as a defendant (2,992 of 3,240). These may be different parties who share the name; records here are grouped by name only. These cases are most often Copyright and Civil Rights matters, filed between 1990 and 2026, most frequently in District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania. Frequent opposing parties include Strike 3 Holdings, LLC, Malibu Media, LLC, and Umg Recordings Inc.

3,240

Lawsuits

2,992

As Defendant

248

As Plaintiff

Open

3,198

Terminated

1990–2026

Span

4 mo

Median Duration

2,576 of these cases (80%) are Copyright filings — large waves of near-identical suits consolidated into multidistrict litigation (MDL) proceedings. The totals and the year chart reflect that concentration, not typical caseload.

88 cases/yrNamed as defendant in 92% of cases80% CopyrightRecent filings down

Cases by State

AK · 1HI · 2PR · 30

Open Cases Over Time

1990peak 211 open2026

Case Types Over Time

19902026

CopyrightCivil RightsTrademarkFederal Tax / Statutory ActionsContract

Filings by Year

19902026

Case Types filter →

Copyright2,576

Civil Rights206

Trademark119

Federal Tax / Statutory Actions115

Contract44

RICO / Consumer / Other Statutes30

Where Filed filter →

Frequent Opposing Parties

Filtered Civil Rights Clear

206 Cases — Newest First

John Doe v. The Regents of the University of California

Civil Rights Open District Court, C.D. CaliforniaNo. 2:26-cv-04743Filed 05/01/2026
John Doe v. City of West Covina

Civil Rights Open District Court, C.D. CaliforniaNo. 2:26-cv-03659Filed 04/06/2026
John Doe v. Albany Law School

Civil Rights Open District Court, N.D. New YorkNo. 1:25-cv-01450Filed 10/16/2025
John Doe v. California Southern University

Civil Rights Open District Court, C.D. CaliforniaNo. 2:25-cv-09549Filed 10/07/2025
John Doe v. The Board of Trustees of the California State University

Civil Rights Open District Court, C.D. CaliforniaNo. 2:25-cv-06691Filed 07/22/2025
John Doe v. County of Los Angeles

Civil Rights Open District Court, C.D. CaliforniaNo. 2:25-cv-06058Filed 07/02/2025
John Doe v. City of New Bedford

Civil Rights Terminated District Court, D. MassachusettsNo. 1:25-cv-11645Filed 06/06/2025
John Doe v. Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles

Civil Rights Terminated District Court, C.D. CaliforniaNo. 2:24-cv-09807Filed 11/05/2024
American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan v. John Doe

Civil Rights Terminated District Court, E.D. MichiganNo. 2:24-cv-12950Filed 11/05/2024
John Doe v. New York University

Civil Rights Terminated District Court, S.D. New YorkNo. 1:23-cv-10515Filed 12/01/2023
John Doe v. Kachalia

Civil Rights Terminated District Court, S.D. New YorkNo. 1:23-cv-10395Filed 11/24/2023
John Doe v. Columbia University

Civil Rights Terminated District Court, S.D. New YorkNo. 1:23-cv-10393Filed 11/24/2023
John Doe v. Varsity Spirit, LLC

Civil Rights Terminated District Court, N.D. OhioNo. 1:23-cv-01960Filed 10/05/2023
John-Doe v. State of Georgia

Civil Rights Terminated District Court, N.D. GeorgiaNo. 1:23-cv-02362Filed 05/26/2023
Allyn-Feuer v. John Doe

Civil Rights Terminated District Court, S.D. TexasNo. 2:23-cv-00117Filed 05/01/2023
John Doe v. Regents of The University of California

Civil Rights Terminated District Court, C.D. CaliforniaNo. 8:22-cv-01623Filed 08/31/2022
Pal v. John Doe

Civil Rights Terminated District Court, M.D. FloridaNo. 8:21-cv-02850Filed 12/07/2021
John Doe v. Braswell

Civil Rights Terminated District Court, M.D. FloridaNo. 8:21-cv-02428Filed 10/15/2021
John Doe v. United States of America

Civil Rights Terminated District Court, C.D. CaliforniaNo. 2:21-cv-02803Filed 03/31/2021
John Doe v. Donald J. Trump

Civil Rights Terminated District Court, C.D. CaliforniaNo. 2:20-cv-04129Filed 05/05/2020
John Doe v. William P. Barr

Civil Rights Terminated District Court, C.D. CaliforniaNo. 2:20-cv-03434Filed 04/13/2020
John Doe v. MacPherson

Civil Rights Terminated District Court, D. MassachusettsNo. 1:20-cv-10025Filed 01/07/2020
Phillips v. John Doe

Civil Rights Terminated District Court, M.D. GeorgiaNo. 7:19-cv-00204Filed 12/10/2019
John Doe v. Columbia University

Civil Rights Terminated District Court, S.D. New YorkNo. 1:19-cv-11328Filed 12/10/2019
John Doe v. The Regents of the University of California

Civil Rights Terminated District Court, C.D. CaliforniaNo. 2:19-cv-10385Filed 12/06/2019
Babauta v. John Doe

Civil Rights Terminated District Court, Northern Mariana IslandsNo. 1:19-cv-00023Filed 12/02/2019
O'Neill v. John Doe

Civil Rights Terminated District Court, N.D. GeorgiaNo. 1:19-cv-05122Filed 11/12/2019
John Doe v. Lake Erie College

Civil Rights Terminated District Court, N.D. OhioNo. 1:19-cv-02619Filed 11/08/2019
John Doe v. The Pennsylvania State University

Civil Rights Terminated District Court, M.D. PennsylvaniaNo. 4:19-cv-01438Filed 08/19/2019
John Doe v. William P. Barr

Civil Rights Terminated District Court, C.D. CaliforniaNo. 2:19-cv-06893Filed 08/08/2019
John Doe v. The Pennsylvania State University

Civil Rights Terminated District Court, M.D. PennsylvaniaNo. 4:19-cv-01234Filed 07/18/2019
John Doe v. Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation

Civil Rights Terminated District Court, N.D. AlabamaNo. 5:19-cv-00991Filed 06/25/2019
LaDay v. John Doe

Civil Rights Terminated District Court, S.D. New YorkNo. 1:19-cv-03835Filed 04/29/2019
John Doe v. Stephen F. Austin State University

Civil Rights Terminated District Court, E.D. TexasNo. 9:19-cv-00006Filed 01/18/2019
John Doe v. Princeton University

Civil Rights Terminated District Court, D. New JerseyNo. 3:18-cv-16539Filed 11/28/2018
Beasley v. John Doe

Civil Rights Terminated District Court, S.D. New YorkNo. 1:18-cv-10721Filed 11/14/2018
John Doe v. California Institute of Technology

Civil Rights Terminated District Court, C.D. CaliforniaNo. 2:18-cv-09178Filed 10/25/2018
John Doe v. The County of Los Angeles

Civil Rights Terminated District Court, C.D. CaliforniaNo. 2:18-cv-06027Filed 07/11/2018
Collins v. John Doe

Civil Rights Terminated District Court, S.D. New YorkNo. 1:18-cv-05756Filed 06/25/2018
John Doe v. Scott Kernan

Civil Rights Terminated District Court, C.D. CaliforniaNo. 2:18-cv-05077Filed 06/07/2018
John Doe v. South Gate City of

Civil Rights Terminated District Court, C.D. CaliforniaNo. 2:18-cv-03036Filed 04/11/2018
Wu v. John Doe

Civil Rights Terminated District Court, S.D. New YorkNo. 1:18-cv-02407Filed 03/15/2018
John Doe v. Methacton School District

Civil Rights Terminated District Court, E.D. PennsylvaniaNo. 2:18-cv-00210Filed 01/16/2018
John Doe v. City of Hawaiian Gardens

Civil Rights Terminated District Court, C.D. CaliforniaNo. 2:18-cv-00203Filed 01/09/2018
Burke v. John Doe

Civil Rights Terminated District Court, D. MassachusettsNo. 1:17-cv-12553Filed 12/26/2017
John Doe v. New York City Department Of Education

Civil Rights Terminated District Court, S.D. New YorkNo. 1:17-cv-10091Filed 12/26/2017
John Doe v. North Orange County Community College District

Civil Rights Terminated District Court, C.D. CaliforniaNo. 8:17-cv-01776Filed 10/11/2017
John Doe v. Margaret Klawunn

Civil Rights Terminated District Court, C.D. CaliforniaNo. 2:17-cv-07281Filed 10/03/2017
Huan v. John Doe

Civil Rights Terminated District Court, S.D. New YorkNo. 1:17-cv-04617Filed 06/14/2017
John Doe v. City of Compton

Civil Rights Terminated District Court, C.D. CaliforniaNo. 2:17-cv-04172Filed 06/05/2017

Showing 1–50 of 206