Stephen Panzer

The plaintiff brought a motion to substitute a known roofing contractor for a 'John Doe Contractor' defendant on the basis of misnomer, to have three related fire damage actions tried together, and to assign the matter to case management.

The court dismissed the misnomer motion, finding the proposed defendant could not have reasonably known the 'litigating finger' was pointed at him since he was known to the plaintiff and the pleading described an unknown entity.

The court granted the request to try the actions together due to overlapping facts and witnesses, but declined to order case management.

The plaintiff brought a motion to transfer the action to another jurisdiction and for leave to amend the statement of claim after discovery evidence revealed additional entities allegedly involved in selling the plaintiff’s musical compositions.

The defendants argued the amendments were statute‑barred, would cause prejudice, lacked particulars, and were invalid because the underlying oral agreement contravened the Copyright Act.

The court held that amendments should generally be permitted under Rule 26.01 unless non‑compensable prejudice would result.

The court found the alleged cause of action arose after termination of the agreement in 2012, rejected arguments that the oral agreement was invalid under s. 13(4) of the Copyright Act, and concluded the proposed amendments raised triable issues.

Leave to amend was granted with limited exceptions, and the action was ordered transferred to Newmarket or Toronto.