In Ferron v. Echostar Satellite, LLC, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 66637 (S.D. Ohio July 30, 2009), U.S. Magistrate Judge Norah McCann King denied plaintiff's renewed motion for the imposition of discovery sanctions for defendants' failure to preserve embedded images and web links.

Plaintiff commenced this action alleging that multiple defendants transmitted 703 unsolicited email messages which conveyed a commercial advertisement to his account in violation of the Ohio Consumer Sales Practices Act. In discovery, plaintiff produced a CD-ROM containing all of the email messages, some of which contained embedded images and linked to certain web pages.  Defendant E-Management Group, Inc. offered to print out and produce emails from plaintiff's CD-ROM if plaintiff paid the cost. 

The other defendants did not respond at all. Plaintiff subsequently moved for sanctions against defendants complaining that the electronic versions contained invisible information (metadata) that was necessary to support his claim.  The court declined to sanction defendants holding that plaintiff had failed to do the following:  (1) establish that defendants had a duty to preserve the web links at issue: (2) explain what information was missing and how it supported his claims and (3) present evidence that defendants acted in bad faith.  The court, therefore, denied plaintiff's request for sanctions.  Nonetheless, the court ordered defendants to advise plaintiff's counsel whether or not they had preserved copies of the disputed emails, and if so, produce such copies to plaintiff.