The Ontario Superior Court has granted certification in the class action against Thomson Reuters/Carswell for copyright infringement over allegations of reproducing copies of court filed documents. The class includes lawyers in private practice who have authored materials filed with the courts and reproduced in Carswell’s “Litigator” offering.

The decision is Waldman v. Thomson Reuters Corporation, 2012 ONSC 1138.

Thomson Reuters argued that determining originality and therefore copyright of each document would make the class unmanageable. In addition, issues of authorship, fair dealing and copyright protection in legal documents and remedies would have to be determined.

Justice Perell certified the following class which likely includes 10,000 to 15,000 lawyers and 6500 firms who have submitted materials to the provincial courts, the Federal Courts and the Supreme Court (at [15]).

All lawyers and paralegals in private practice and licensed to practice law in Canada, who: (a) are the authors of the original legal documents that Thomson Reuters Canada Limited has copied, used, or otherwise dealt with in connection with its Litigator service, including pleadings, affidavits, facta, notices of motion, and other legal documents, and  (b) are the owners of  the copyright in the original legal documents that Thomson Reuters Canada Limited has copied, used, or otherwise dealt with in connection with its Litigator service, including pleadings, affidavits, facta, notices of motion, and other legal documents (at [151]).

A similar lawsuit was filed in the United States against LexisNexis and WestLaw earlier this week.