PHILADELPHIA -- Bill Cosby has won at least a temporary delay on efforts by three Massachusetts women to unseal material from an earlier Pennsylvania court case that he settled.

The three women allege the comedian defamed them when his agents denied that he had sexually abused them in the 1970s.

The women hope the lawyer for a woman who settled a Pennsylvania case against Cosby in 2006 can support their claims and they have subpoenaed her for documents.

But a federal judge Friday granted Cosby's request to put that subpoena on hold.

The judge won't release documents linked to the Pennsylvania settlement until a Massachusetts court decides whether to throw out the women's defamation lawsuit.

The plaintiffs in the Massachusetts case are Tamara Green, Therese Serignese and Linda Traitz.