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OTTAWA — The Supreme Court of Canada ruled Friday in favour of a Montreal animator in his long-running battle over copyright infringement.

Claude Robinson had already won at the Quebec Court of Appeal, which ruled the Montreal company, Cinar, had essentially copied his idea for a children’s television show.

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He was originally awarded more than $5-million in damages, so Cinar appealed to the Supreme Court and has now lost.

The animator created a children’s show concept called The Adventures of Robinson Curiosity in the 1980s loosely based on Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe novel.

He sued after seeing a similar show a decade later, called Robinson Sucroe, that went on to become quite popular.

The Supreme Court has ruled by 7-0 the copyright of Mr. Robinson’s original creation had been infringed.

“Claude Robinson was a dreamer. He spent years meticulously crafting an imaginary universe for an educational children’s television show,” Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin wrote on behalf of the court.

“I conclude that the copyright in Curiosity was infringed.”

Ronald Weinberg, Cinar Corp. co-founder, and the estate of his wife, Micheline Charest, France Animation SA, freelance author Christophe Izard, Ravensburger Film + TV Gmbh and RTV Family Entertainment AG were ruled jointly responsible for payment.

The initial Superior Court ruling included $1-million in punitive damages. The Quebec Court of Appeal reduced that to $250,000. The Supreme Court revised it to $500,000, saying the appeal court “did not give sufficient weight to the gravity of the conduct in this case.”