Late reaction to alleged copyright infringement pushes Court to deny motion for interlocutory injunction

2009-01-01

LATEREACTIONTOALLEGEDCOPYRIGHTINFRINGEMENTPUS
HESCOURT
TODENYMOTIONFORINTERLOCUTORYINJUNCTION

LAURENTCARRIÈREANDPATRICKLACASSE*
LEGERROBICRICHARD,
LLP
L
AWYERS,ANDPATENTANDTRADE-MARKAGENTS

PRECIS:TheQuebecSuperiorCourtdismissedplaintiff’smotionforinterlocutory
injunctionregardingthe
allegedinfringementofanexclusivecopyright

InthematterofPagé(Éditions36D)c.Kamar[2009QCCS566]broughtforwardby
theQuebecSuperiorCourtinJuly2008,plaintiffsoughtdamagesforexclusive
copyrightinfringementandbroughtamotionforinterlocutoryinjunctionrelief
requestingthatthedefendantsstopanysale,distribution,reproductionoruseofthe
musicalworkindispute.
Thefacts
In2001,defendantsCyrilKamarandÉditionsK-Poneinc.signedapublishing
agreementwithplaintiffassigningtoplaintiffthepropertyandmanagementrightsof
allsongsandmusicalworkswrittenbyKamarbetweenOctober2000andOctober
2003.Defendantsalsoassignedtoplaintifftheexclusiverightstopublishthe
musicalworkinternationally.Plaintiffagreedtotaketheappropriatemeasuresto
ensurethecreationoftherecordingsandtotakereasonablestepstopromotethe
musicalwork.Thepartiesalsoagreedonprovisionswithregardstoprofit
redistribution.
In2004,defendantKamarsignedanagreementwithdefendantWarnerMusic
Canadawhichledtothedevelopmentandsaleofanalbumcalled“LaGoodLife”
whichenjoyedalotofsuccessinQuebecandinEurope.In2006,anotheralbum
called“KMaro10
thanniversary”wasreleasedbyWarnerMusicCanadain
collaborationwithdefendantÉditionsK-Poneinc.,anentitycontrolledbyKamar.

©CIPS,2009.*Lawyerandtrade-markagent,LaurentCarrière,isaseniorpartnerwithLEGERROBICRICHARD,
LLP
amultidisciplinaryfirmoflawyers,andpatentandtrade-markagents.PatrickLacasseisafourth
yearlawstudentwiththefirm.PublishedinaMarch2009issueofWorldMediaLawReport.
Publication328.062.

2
Sincethereleaseofhisalbumin2004,Kamarreachedacertainlevelofpopularity
intheCanadianandinternationalmarkets.
TheAllegations
Plaintiffclaimsthatsomeofthesongsandmusicalworkreproducedinthe
previouslymentionedalbumswerewrittenduringthe3yearperiodcoveredbythe
agreementbetweenplaintiffanddefendantsCyrilKamarandÉditionsK-Pone.
Plaintiffthereforearguesthatitistheexclusivecopyrightholderofnineofthesongs
usedonthe2004and2006albumsandthatthedefendantsareusingthesongs
withoutrighttherebydeprivingplaintiffofthebenefitstowhichitisentitled.Asa
result,plaintiffseeksinjunctivereliefbywhichitrequeststhatthedefendantsstop
selling,distributing,reproducingorusingthemusicalworkindispute.

Defendantschallengethemotionbyarguingthatplaintiffhasnoapparentrightto
injunctiverelief,thatnoseriousorirreparableharmhasbeenestablishedandthat
thedisadvantagesofsuchreliefwouldlargelyexceeditsbenefits.Defendantsalso
pleadthattheinjunctionshouldnotbegrantedbecauseplaintiffcanuseother
remediestosafeguarditsrights.
TheCourt’sdecision
AsremindedbyJusticeMonast,thereare3criteriatheCourtmusttakeinto
considerationinordertodecidewhethertograntordismissthemotionforinjunction.
Thesecriteriaarefoundatsections752and753oftheCodeofCivilProcedure:(1)
theappearanceofright,(2)theexistenceofseriousorirreparableharmand(3)the
favourablebalanceofinconvenience.
TheCourtindicatedthatitcoulduseitsdiscretiontodismissamotionfor
interlocutoryinjunctionincaseswheretherewasalongdelaybetweenplaintiff’s
motionandthemomentitbecameawareoftheallegedinfringement(Laches
defense);inthiscase,theCourtnotedthatthedelaywasconsiderable.However,
thisargumentalonecouldnotjustifythedismissalofthemotion,thereforetheCourt
hadtoexamineeachofthecriteriaofsection752andoftheCodeofCivilProcedure
.
Afteranalysingtheevidence,theCourtconcludedthatplaintiffdidn’thaveclear
appearanceofrighttoinjunctivereliefbecausetheallegedcertificateattesting
plaintiffasthecopyrightholderofcertainmusicalworkswasinsufficienttoestablish
therequiredappearanceofright.

3
Furthermore,theCourtcametotheconclusionthatmostofthedamageshave
alreadymaterializedsincethelitigiousmaterielhasbeenonthemarketsince2004
and2006andthatthegrantingoftheinjunctionwouldnotchangeanythingtothe
situation.TheCourtaddedthatplaintiffcouldadequatelybecompensatedby
damages.
InlightofalltheCourt’sfindings,itcametotheconclusionthatthebalanceof
inconveniencewasnotfavourabletothegrantingofthemotionforinterlocutory
injunctionrequestedbyplaintiff.Therefore,theCourtdeniedthemotion,addingthat
itwasbesttoletthetrialjudgedecideonthelegitimacyoftheclaiminlightofthe
evidence,therebyavoidingtheriskofharmingtheparties’rights.

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