Daniel Brinza

The defendants brought a motion for an anti-suit injunction to prevent the plaintiffs from continuing a newly commenced Superior Court action, a Federal Court copyright action, and any future related proceedings worldwide.

The underlying dispute involved a documentary about the making of the plaintiffs' film.

The court stayed the new Superior Court action as an abuse of process, finding it was a collateral attack on previous final judgments.

However, the court declined to issue a broad anti-suit injunction or stay the Federal Court action, deferring to the Federal Court to determine issues of res judicata and issue estoppel within its own jurisdiction.

The plaintiffs, creators of the cult film 'The Room', sued the defendants for copyright infringement, breach of moral rights, misappropriation of personality, passing off, and intrusion upon seclusion over the defendants' unauthorized documentary 'Room Full of Spoons'.

The defendants counterclaimed for damages resulting from an ex parte injunction previously obtained by the plaintiffs that delayed the documentary's release.

The court dismissed all of the plaintiffs' claims, finding that the documentary's use of clips from 'The Room' constituted fair dealing for the purposes of criticism, review, and news reporting.

The court granted the defendants' counterclaim, awarding US$550,000 in compensatory damages for lost revenue due to the injunction, and CAD$200,000 in punitive damages for the plaintiffs' oppressive and bad faith litigation conduct.