Lawsuit of the week: Vancouver Aquarium claims documentary filmmaker wrongfully used copyrighted material The Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centre is suingfilmmaker Gary Charbonneau and Evotion Films Inc., claiming the documentary Vancouver Aquarium Uncovered uses copyrighted material from the aquarium’s website without permission. The non-profit filed a notice of civil claim in BC Supreme Court on February 15. The aquarium claims Charbonneau and Evotion and two unknown “Doe” defendants violated the marine facility’s terms and conditions for use of material from its website. In addition, it claims the defendants breached an April 2015 contract giving permission to film on aquarium property. Charbonneau and Evotion allegedly violated the contractual terms by “illegally” using the plaintiff’s copyrighted works for commercial purposes, including paid screenings of the film, online advertising and a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo. The video is posted on YouTube and Vimeo, according to the lawsuit. “The defendants have each been guilty of reprehensible, insulting, high-handed, spiteful, malicious and oppressive conduct,” the claim states. The Vancouver Aquarium seeks general, special, aggravated and punitive damages and an injunction to restrain further publication of the film. The allegations have not been tested or proven in court, and the defendants had not filed a response by press time. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ TO QUOTE GARY CHARBONNEAU: "When the Aquarium has to go to these levels to silence a film, then there's something seriously wrong."