SCC denies Voltage appeal in costs case

The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) will not hear an appeal from an American movie studio challenging a Canadian court’s decision forcing it to pay court costs upfront for a defendant it is looking to sue for copyright infringement. Early last year, a federal court judge ordered Voltage Pictures LLC to put up $75,000 in a court account to cover the costs of defendant and Rogers Communications Inc. subscriber Robert Salna, who was accused by the studio of illegally downloading its content. The Federal Court of Appeal then denied Voltage’s appeal, and on Thursday, the country’s highest court said it isn’t going to grant Voltage a hearing. The SCC does not give reasons as to why it does or doesn’t grant an appeal request. It capped its decision by also awarding Salna costs in that decision. “If they would’ve dismissed it without costs, that would have lent some credence” to Voltage’s argument that the regime governing federal class actions is a no-cost regime, Salna’s lawyer Sean Zeitz said in a phone interview Thursday. “Here, the court goes so far as to actually award Mr. Salna some costs,” which effectively denies Voltage’s argument that this is a no-cost case, Zeitz said. The $75,000 would need to be deposited in the court trust for Salna to defend a class certification action, Zeitz said. Voltage sought to bring the rare reverse class action, which would place Salna as the proposed representative defendant on behalf of other subscribers the studio alleges infringed its copyright. However, because Voltage has yet to put that money up, the court cannot move forward with a certification decision, both counsel confirmed. When reached by phone about next steps for Voltage, counsel Ken Clark of Aird and Berlis said he didn’t have additional information to give. The case is separate from one currently being deliberated by the SCC that involves Voltage, which is looking to clarify whether internet service providers must foot the bill for costs of disclosing subscriber information to those alleging copyright infringement. In recent years, Voltage, the studio behind The Hurt Locker, has gone to court to disclose the information of Canadian ISP subscribers who they allege have illegally downloaded their content. Notable ISPs involved in those disclosure cases include TekSavvy Solutions Inc.

SCC denies Voltage appeal in costs case

Brief | August 10, 2018

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SCC denies Voltage appeal in costs case

Brief | August 10, 2018

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