The Quebec Superior Court has refused to intervene in favour of two former Marvel illustrators, who say they are victims of abuse of process by their former employer and fear they will not be able to successfully pursue their copyright infringement lawsuit.
Raymond and Ben Lai, two Montreal artists who claim that their former employer Marvel and its parent company Disney copied some of their personal creations and used them in their superhero films without paying them compensation for their copyright, had asked that a judge intervene to rebalance the forces in the case.
“It’s a clear David versus Goliath situation,” argued their lawyer, Me Julie Desrosiers, from the Fasken Martineau DuMoulin firm.
The brothers filed their lawsuit in 2021 and say they have racked up $180,000 in legal fees trying to assert their rights. They claim that Marvel and its parent company Disney have used a variety of tricks to drag out the proceedings and drain them financially. For example, the entertainment multinational allegedly reversed its position, refused to provide them with relevant information in the case, and then provided their lawyers with 11,000 pages of documents in 11,000 different files before burying them under hundreds of thousands of pages of documentation.
The trial may not take place until 2026, and the two illustrators were asking their former employer to reimburse their legal fees incurred due to the prolonged proceedings.
“These are individuals. It is clear that all of this has a direct impact on their ability to continue this litigation to a successful conclusion,” Mr.e Desrosiers.
“The worst thing would be if my clients were not able to see this case through to the end,” she added, highlighting the “context of enormous imbalance between the parties.”
PHOTO OLIVIER JEAN, THE PRESS
The two Montreal artists claim that works by Marvel and Disney copy their Radix comic book series, developed before they themselves were recruited by the multinational.
No check for a long time anyway
Marvel and Disney lawyer Me Camille Aubin of the Robic firm argued that his clients had acted in good faith and that it was normal for the documentation to be voluminous and the explanations complex when dealing with a huge company.
“It’s true that the complexity of a group like that means it requires more explanations,” she argued.
Judge Louis J. Gouin ruled that it was premature to intervene in the case and that any allegations of abuse of process by the multinational could be examined at trial, if necessary.
“It’s unfortunate, I tell you,” he said. “There is a financial imbalance, I agree, but it will not be resolved in the short term. It will go to the Court of Appeal, for sure, if I rule in your favor,” he explained to the Lai brothers’ lawyers.
” They [Marvel et Disney] “They will not accept this judgment,” the magistrate predicted. “You will not receive a check tomorrow and everything will go wrong,” he warned. A date for a trial on the merits of the case is expected to be set for September 19.