Doing The Wright Thing: When A Good Apology Is All You Need

• Published date: 07 January 2022
• Subject Matter: Intellectual Property, Litigation, Mediation & Arbitration, Copyright, Trials & Appeals & Compensation
• Law Firm: Bereskin & Parr LLP
• Author: Ms Tamara Winegust and Mitchel Fleming

The Federal Court (FC) companion decisions in Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. v. White (Beast IPTV), 2021 FC 989 and 2021 FC 996 showcase how a defendant's change in conduct can affect the disposition of contempt charges for non-compliance with an interim order issued in a copyright litigation. In the Warner Bros. cases, one defendant (Mr. White) refused to comply with the Court's interim order, and appealed the contempt charge, but eventually pled guilty. The court accepted the plea, and deferred sentencing until after the adjudication of the appeal (2021 FC 989). By contrast, after being charged with contempt, the second defendant (Mr. Wright) began complying with the terms of the order and entered into a consent judgement with the Plaintiffs. At the contempt hearing, he offered (what the judge described as) "an abject apology" to the Court and took full responsibility for his actions. The Court dismissed the contempt charges, as Mr. Wright was already complying with the Court's orders of his own accord; thus, there was "no useful purpose" in proceeding with the contempt charges against him (2021 FC 996).

Civil contempt of court proceedings are quasi-criminal in nature. The two Warner Bros. decisions demonstrate the useful role contempt proceedings can play in obtaining compliance by recalcitrant defendants with court orders, whether because the defendant, faced with the seriousness of the charge, chooses to comply of their own accord, or because they simply plead guilty and accept the consequences. Of note, these Warner Bros. decisions were not the only contempt proceedings brought in the context of a copyright litigation in 2021. In early July, the Federal Court found the defendants in a different copyright matter in contempt of court, and, in December, ordered them to pay a $100,000 fine for such contempt. Moreover, the Court ordered the personal defendant in that case to be imprisoned for not less than six months (or, earlier, if the contempt was purged) (See Canadian Standards Association v. P.S. Knight Co. Ltd., 2021 FC 770 and 2021 FC 1346).

The Warner Bros. Decisions

In October 2020, Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. and other entertainment companies (the "Plaintiffs") commenced a copyright infringement action against Tyler White and Colin Wright (collectively the "Defendants") for operating a streaming service, Beast IPTV. The service provided users with access to over 1,600 television channels without authorization from the copyright owners...