Nova Scotia company sues Sun Media claiming copyright infringement

<p>HALIFAX – A Nova Scotia syndication company is suing Sun Media Corp. alleging that the media chain infringed copyright by running horoscope columns without permission.</p> <p>Canadian Artists Syndicate Inc. has filed a statement of claim saying it had a deal with Christine Davison of Halifax to syndicate her weekly horoscope column in newspapers across Canada.</p> <p>The Halifax-based syndicate says it had a contract with Osprey Media Publishing Inc. – a chain of newspapers in Ontario now owned by Sun Media – to run the column from January 2007 to January 2010.</p> <p>The lawsuit, filed with the Federal Court on May 4, says Osprey stopped paying Canadian Artists Syndicate for the column after February 28, 2009, and abandoned its agreement.</p> <p>The suit says Osprey later published horoscopes for three months that were written by Davison and provided by a website.</p> <p>Canadian Artists Syndicate says the horoscopes were “substantially the same and were in fact reproductions or copies” of horoscopes that Davison wrote for them during that same time span.</p> <p>The suit says Sun Media became responsible for all of Osprey’s past activities after Osprey merged into Sun Media in January of this year.</p> <p>The plaintiff is seeking $50,000, not including punitive damages.</p> <p>The claims have not been proven in court.</p> <p>A spokesman for Quebecor Inc., the owner of Sun Media, declined comment.</p> <p>Sun Media owns 43 daily newspapers and more than 200 weekly publications.</p>