- Parties: The appellant was Wiseau Studio, LLC. The respondents were Richard Harper, Fernando Forero McGrath, Martin Racicot d.b.a. Rockhaven Pictures, Room Full of Spoons Inc., Parktown Studios Inc., and Richard Stewart Towns.

- Subject Matter: This case arose from the appellant’s claim for copyright infringement. The respondents moved to dismiss this claim. An associate judge granted the motion to dismiss. The appellant appealed the associate judge’s order. The Federal Court dismissed the appeal. In this appeal, the appellant challenged the Federal Court judge’s analysis on one element of the test for finding cause of action estoppel, specifically whether the cause of action in the prior action was separate and distinct from the current cause of action.

- Ruling: The appeal court ruled in the respondents’ favour and dismissed the appeal. First, the appeal court ruled that the associate judge and the Federal Court judge properly identified the legal test for finding cause of action estoppel. Next, the appeal court held that the Federal Court judge applied the appropriate standard of review, namely, whether the associate judge made a palpable and overriding error in his analysis of whether the two causes of action were separate and distinct.

- Date: The hearing was set on Oct. 1, 2024. The court released its decision on Oct. 1, 2024.

- Venue: This was a federal case before the Federal Court of Appeal.

- Amount: The appeal court fixed costs in the amount of $2,500.