The applicants, Inivos Limited and Warrick Fentiman, brought a motion seeking a civil contempt order against the respondent, Richard Marsh, for allegedly breaching a prior Ontario Superior Court order that recognized and enforced English High Court injunctions prohibiting him from publishing defamatory statements.
The court dismissed the motion, finding that the November 7 order was not sufficiently clear and unequivocal to require the respondent to take positive steps to remove pre-existing defamatory content from the internet.
Furthermore, the applicants failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the respondent had actual knowledge of the order's full terms until January 1, 2024, and he posted no new violating material after that date.
The court also stated it would have exercised its discretion to decline a contempt finding, as contempt is a remedy of last resort and there had been substantial compliance since the respondent gained full knowledge of the order.