Claude Robinson Wins Cinar Lawsuit
Cartoonist Convinced Court Company Stole Idea For Robinson Sucroë
Aug 31, 2009
On August 26th, Montreal cartoonist Claude Robinson won his 14-year battle with production studio Cinar Corp. Quebec Superior Court Justice Claude Auclair ordered the disgraced studio – now renamed Cookie Jar Entertainment – to pay him $5.2 million in damages, agreeing that Cinar's 1995 TV series Robinson Sucroë clearly plagiarized Robinson's concept Les Aventures de Robinson Curiosité, which Robinson had trademarked and copyrighted in 1982.
Auclair awarded Robinson – who represented himself in court – an initial sum of $607,000 for copyright infringement. The judge also threw in $1.7 million for profits earned by Cinar and other broadcasters for Robinson Sucroë, $1.5 million for legal fees, $1 million in exemplary damages and a further $400,000 for psychological distress. In his ruling, Auclair named Cinar founder Ronald A. Weinberg as the main defendant, along with several affiliates that broadcast the series including France Animation, BBC Worldwide (Television), Ravensburger (RTV) and McRaw Holding.
Unfortunately, for Robinson, Weinberg and the other defendants will likely appeal the verdict.
Claude Robinson Wins Plagiarism Battle With Cinar Corp, Awarded $5.2 Million
In 1985, Robinson approached Cinar's founders, the husband-and-wife team of Micheline Charest and Weinberg, with his idea for Robinson Curiosité. He gave the studio copies of his notes, offering possible scenarios and story synopses. Cinar was intrigued, but negotiations collapsed when one of the other partners, Pathonic International, disputed how big a cut of the profits they deserved.
In 1995, Robinson saw a new series on Canale Famille, called Robinson Sucroë, with a character and situations that appeared identical with his own. When Robinson's lawyer initially approached Cinar, the company denied having any meetings with the cartoonist. When pressed, Weinberg's lawyer claimed that Robinson Sucroë was "developed completely independently of your client and his work."
However, an RCMP investigation showed that Weinberg "identified three documents dated 1986, documents that showed that contrary to his claims, he was exposed to the Robinson Curiosité project, including scripts, drawings and development, and this since 1986. Two of these documents included his signature."
When asked who had created Robinson Sucroë, Weinberg initially claimed it was Quebec businessman Christophe Izard, who admitted to seeing Robinson's Robinson Curiosité pitch at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival.
Cinar Corp's Previous Legal Troubles Included Tax Fraud
Robinson's lawsuit highlighted a snake's den of financial irregularities at Cinar, which helped trigger its downfall.
One of the main writers on Robinson Sucroë – who also pocketed $1 million from other Cinar projects – was identified only as "Erica A. Alexandre," a clear amalgamation of Weinberg and Charest's two sons Eric and Alexandre. Weinberg claimed Alexandre was actually Charest's sister Helene, a stockbroker with Merrill Lynch. On the witness stand, Helene denied having written anything for Cinar.
In February of 2000, Charest donated $1 million to the SACD, the private agency that collects royalties for authors, a gesture that appeared to bolster Robinson's contention that she was the mysterious Erica A. Alexandre.
Montreal police also discovered that Cinar was using Robinson Sucroe writers' supervisor Thomas LaPierre to illegally funnel money to American writers Gary Cohen and Don Rifkin, in exchange for scripts for the Cinar show, Chris Cross. Through the deal, Cinar defrauded the Canadian government to the tune of $75 million between 1993 and 1998.
In February of 2000, federal investigators discovered that Charest and Weinberg had invested $122 million (US) in the Bahamas without the approval of board directors. Cinar's stock collapsed, the company was delisted, and Cinar paid $17.8 million to the federal and provincial governments, and another $2.6 million (CAD) to Telefilm Canada, a Canadian federal funding agency.
Charest and Weinberg were each fined $1 million, and forbidden to serve on the board of any publicly traded company for 5 years. They both claimed they were unable to pay the fine, despite the fact that they were renovating their house at the time.
Nelvana founder Michael Hirsh purchased Cinar's assets in 2004, and renamed the company Cookie Jar Entertainment. He, among others, is currently suing Weinberg for $112 million for various financial misdeeds.
Charest died in 2004 from complications from elective plastic surgery.
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