Opinion
3:18-MC-12
12-18-2023
IN RE APPLICATION FOR EXEMPTION FROM THE ELECTRONIC PUBLIC ACCESS FEES BY MARINA GERTSBERG
ORDER GRANTING LIMITED EXEMPTION
DEBRA M. BROWN, CHIEF DISTRICT JUDGE.
Marina Gertsberg seeks an exemption from the fees imposed by the Electronic Public Access fee schedule adopted by the Judicial Conference of the United States Courts to obtain case information from the Public Access to Court Electronic Records (“PACER”) service. Gertsberg represents that she is a senior finance lecturer at the University of Melbourne in Australia and is conducting research on “sexual harassment lawsuits and their impact on corporate culture”- specifically, the relationship between mergers and acquisitions and the filing of sexual harassment suits. Gertsberg included a list of cases involved in the research and of the cases listed, her exemption request is limited to two cases in the Northern District of Mississippi.
Because the Court concludes that Gertsberg, an individual researcher associated with an educational institution, falls within the class of users listed in the fee schedule as being eligible for a fee exemption and that Gertsberg has demonstrated an exemption is necessary to avoid unreasonable burdens and to promote public access to information, Gertsberg shall be exempt from the payment of fees for access through PACER to the electronic case files maintained in this Court but only to the extent such use is incurred in the course of conducting the research described above. Gertsberg shall not be exempt from the payment of fees incurred in connection with other uses of the PACER system in this Court. Accordingly, the following limitations apply:
1. This fee exemption applies only to Marina Gertsberg, PACER Account #7709445,
and is valid only for the purposes stated above;
2. This fee exemption applies only to the electronic case files of this Court available through the PACER system;
3. By accepting this exemption, Gertsberg agrees not to sell for profit any data obtained as a result of receiving this exemption;
4. Gertsberg is prohibited from transferring any data obtained as a result of receiving this exemption, including redistribution through internet-based databases; and
5. This exemption is valid from the date of this order through December 31, 2024. This exemption may be revoked at the discretion of the Court at any time. A copy of this order shall be sent to the PACER Service Center.
SO ORDERED.