e-document T-948-22 ID 1

F D
I FEDERAL COURT É
L COUR FÉDÉRALE P
E O
D S
May 09, 2022 É
09 mai 2022
Court File No.
S Seeraladevan

TOR 1

FEDERAL COURT

B E T W E E N:

THE GOVERNING COUNCIL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO,

ROBERT GAZZALE, LISA KRAMER, and AI TANIGUCHI

Plaintiffs

- and -

EASY GROUP INC. d/b/a EASY EDUCATION, EASY 4 EDUCATION

CANADA INC., EASY 4.0 EDUCATION INC.,
EASY 4.0 EDUCATION UTSC INC.

Defendants

STATEMENT OF CLAIM

TO THE DEFENDANTS:

A LEGAL PROCEEDING HAS BEEN COMMENCED AGAINST YOU by

the plaintiff. The claim made against you is set out in the following pages.

IF YOU WISH TO DEFEND THIS PROCEEDING, you or a solicitor acting

for you are required to prepare a statement of defence in Form 171B prescribed by the
Federal Courts Rules, serve it on the plaintiff's solicitor or, if the plaintiff does not have
a solicitor, serve it on the plaintiff, and file it, with proof of service, at a local office of
this Court

WITHIN 30 DAYS after the day on which this statement of claim is served on
you, if you are served in Canada or the United States; or

WITHIN 60 DAYS after the day on which this statement of claim is served on
you, if you are served outside Canada and the United States.

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TEN ADDITIONAL DAYS are provided for the filing and service of the
statement of defence if you or a solicitor acting for you serves and files a notice of
intention to respond in Form 204.1 prescribed by the Federal Courts Rules.

Copies of the Federal Courts Rules, information concerning the local offices of
the Court and other necessary information may be obtained on request to the
Administrator of this Court at Ottawa (telephone 613-992-4238) or at any local office.

IF YOU FAIL TO DEFEND THIS PROCEEDING, judgment may be given

against you in your absence and without further notice to you.

DATED May 9, 2022.

Issued By:

Address of local office:

180 Queen Street West
Suite 200
Toronto, Ontario M5V 3L6

TO: EASY GROUP INC.

8 Telegram Mews, Unit 309

Toronto, Ontario,
Canada, M5V 3Z5

and

80 Bloor St. W.
Suite 1103
Toronto, Ontario
Canada, M5S 2V1

and

9 St. Nicholas St.

Toronto, Ontario
Canada, M4Y 1W5

AND TO: EASY 4 EDUCATION CANADA INC.

2028 Queensborough Gate

Mississauga, Ontario
Canada, L5M 0X9

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AND TO: EASY 4.0 EDUCATION INC.

8 Telegram Mews, Unit 309

Toronto, Ontario
Canada, M5V 3Z5

AND TO: EASY 4.0 EDUCATION UTSC INC.

388 Redstone Road

Richmond Hill, Ontario
Canada, L4S 2V7

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CLAIM

1. The plaintiffs, The Governing Council of The University of Toronto (the

“University”) and Robert Gazzale, Lisa Kramer, and Ai Taniguchi (together, the

“Professors”), seek

a. a declaration that the defendants, Easy Group Inc. d/b/a Easy Education,

Easy 4 Education Canada Inc., Easy 4.0 Education Inc., and Easy 4.0

Education UTSC Inc. (together, “Easy EDU”), have infringed the

plaintiffs’ exclusive rights in various original course materials,

including PowerPoint presentations, lecture slides, course syllabuses,

lecture notes, tests, examinations, and other literary, artistic, dramatic,

and cinematographic works, and original compilations of such course

materials, owned by the University or the Professors (together,

“University Course Materials”), contrary to the Copyright Act, R.S.C.

1985, c. C-42 (the “Copyright Act”);

b. a declaration that Easy EDU has infringed the Professors’ moral rights

in University Course Materials contrary to the Copyright Act;

c. interim, interlocutory, and permanent injunctions prohibiting Easy

EDU, its parents, subsidiaries, and affiliates, and each of their respective

agents, employees, officers, directors, servants, successors, licensees,

heirs, and assigns, as well as any person or entity directly or indirectly

controlled by or acting on behalf or under the authority of any of the

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foregoing, from infringing the plaintiffs’ rights under the Copyright Act

in

i. University Course Materials, and

ii. in accordance with section 39.1 of the Copyright Act, any other

work or other subject-matter that now exists or may later come

into existence in which the University or any of the Professors

now or later becomes an owner of copyright or the holder of an

interest in copyright;

d. a mandatory order compelling Easy EDU to deliver up to the plaintiffs

any and all material in its possession, control, or custody that infringes

the plaintiffs’ exclusive rights or, in the alternative, an order that all such

materials be destroyed under oath and under the supervision of this

Court;

e. damages in an amount to be determined at trial for the infringement of

the plaintiffs’ copyrights;

f. an accounting and disgorgement of the profits earned by Easy EDU,

directly or indirectly, as a result of the infringement of the plaintiffs’

copyrights;

g. in the alternative, statutory damages in the amount of $20,000 for each

work or other subject matter infringed, pursuant to section 38.1(1)(a) of

the Copyright Act;

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h. punitive and exemplary damages in the amount of $500,000;

i. pre-judgment and post-judgment interest at the maximum allowable

rate;

j. the costs of this action on the highest allowable scale, plus all applicable

taxes; and

k. such further and other relief as to this Court may seem just.

I. The Parties

2. The University is a corporation continued by the provisions of subsection 2(1)

of the University of Toronto Act, S.O., 1971, c. 56 (as amended by S.O. 1978, c. 88).

The University is a degree-granting post-secondary educational institution with

campuses located in Toronto, Scarborough, and Mississauga, Ontario. It is one of

Canada’s premier universities and is consistently ranked among the best universities in

the world.

3. Dr. Robert Gazzale is an individual residing in Ontario. Dr. Gazzale is a

professor and full-time employee in the Department of Economics at the University,

with a business address at 150 St. George Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3G7.

4. Dr. Lisa Kramer is an individual residing in Ontario. Dr. Kramer is a professor

and full-time employee in the Department of Management at the University, with a

business address at 3359 Mississauga Road, Mississauga, Ontario, L5L 1C6.

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5. Dr. Ai Taniguchi is an individual residing in Ontario. Dr. Taniguchi is a

professor and full-time employee in the Department of Language Studies at the

University, with a business address at 3359 Mississauga Road, Mississauga, Ontario,

L5L 1C6.

6. Easy Group Inc. is a corporation incorporated under the laws of Ontario. Its

registered address is 8 Telegram Mews, Unit 309, Toronto, Ontario, M5V 3Z5. The

sole director of Easy Group Inc. is Yuwei Zhang (a.k.a. Jacky Zhang). Yuwei Zhang is

identified at <https://www.easy-group.cn/about> as the Founder and CEO of Easy

Group Inc.

7. Easy 4 Education Canada Inc. is a federally incorporated company. Its

registered address is 2028 Queensborough Gate, Mississauga, Ontario, L5M 0X9. Easy

4 Education Canada Inc. has two directors, Yuwei Zhang and Junyu Huang. A

corporate profile report lists Yuwei Zhang’s address as 8 Telegram Mews, Unit 309,

Toronto, Ontario, M5V 3Z5.

8. Easy 4.0 Education Inc. is a company incorporated under the laws of Ontario.

Its registered address is 8 Telegram Mews, Unit 309, Toronto, Ontario, M5V 3Z5. The

sole director of Easy 4.0 Education Inc. is Yuwei Zhang.

9. Easy 4.0 Education UTSC Inc. is a company incorporated under the laws of

Ontario. Its registered address is 388 Redstone Road, Richmond Hill, Ontario, L4S

2V7. The corporation has two directors, Yuwei Zhang and Ailun Zhang. A corporate

profile report lists Yuwei Zhang’s address as 8 Telegram Mews, Unit 309, Toronto,

Ontario, M5V 3Z5.

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II. Overview

10. Easy EDU is a group of related companies that offer tutoring services and

packages to students of university institutions throughout Canada, including the

University.

11. In order to prepare, market, and sell tutoring services and packages to students,

Easy EDU systematically misappropriates University Course Materials for commercial

gain. The infringement of the plaintiffs’ rights in University Course Materials has been

instrumental to Easy EDU’s sales of tutoring services and packages and the growth of

its business. Easy EDU has undertaken these unauthorized activities knowingly and

deliberately and has persisted in its conduct despite the plaintiffs’ demands that it stop.

12. Easy EDU’s blatant activities not only infringe the plaintiffs’ copyright in

University Course Materials but also unfairly exploit the University’s student body,

who pay significant prices, in good faith, for Easy EDU’s infringing tutoring packages

and can face life-altering consequences as a result of their reliance on them. These

consequences include sanctions for academic misconduct, which, for international

students, can affect access to work and study permits, and can even lead to deportation.

III. The Plaintiffs’ Backgrounds

13. The University is dedicated to fostering an academic community in which the

learning and scholarship of every faculty member and student may flourish, with

vigilant protection for individual human rights and a resolute commitment to the

principles of equal opportunity, equity, and justice.

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14. The University has over 1,000 programs of study, with a student enrolment of

over 95,000 and an alumni of over 620,000. Approximately 26 per cent of the

University’s student body is made up of international students from 164 countries and

regions.

15. Dr. Gazzale is Associate Professor, Teaching Stream and the Associate Chair,

Undergraduate Studies in the Department of Economics at the University. He has been

a professor of Economics at the University since 2012 and has taught numerous

economics courses, including Introduction to Economics (ECO101), Principles of

Macroeconomics (ECO102), Behavioural and Experimental Economics (ECO331),

and Honours Essay in Applied Microeconomics (ECO499).

16. During the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 academic years, including the Fall 2020

and 2021 terms, Dr. Gazzale taught Principles of Microeconomics – ECO101 (the

“Gazzale ECO101 Course”) to over 3,100 undergraduate students at the University’s

St. George campus. Since 2012, Dr. Gazzale has taught the Gazzale ECO101 Course

and a similar, earlier version of the course (ECO100) 11 times.

17. Over the course of his career at the University, Dr. Gazzale has created original

course materials, including the PowerPoint presentations, lecture slides, course

syllabuses, lecture notes, tests, examinations, and other literary, artistic, dramatic, and

cinematographic works used in the Gazzale ECO101 Course (the “ECO101 Course

Materials”).

18. Dr. Lisa Kramer is Professor of Finance and a Research Fellow, Behavioural

Economics in Action at Rotman, at the University. She has been a professor of Finance

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at the University since 2001 and has taught numerous finance courses, including

Business Finance (MGT 337), Finance (MGM 230), Investments (MGT 330), MBA

Investments (MGT 2302), and Behavioural Finance (MGT 430).

19. In the Fall of 2020, Dr. Kramer taught Investments – MGT330 (the “Kramer

MGT330 Course”) to nearly 40 students at the University’s Mississauga campus.

Since 2006, Dr. Kramer has taught the Kramer MGT330 Course 14 times to over 940

students.

20. Over the course of her career at the University, Dr. Kramer has created original

course materials, including the PowerPoint presentations, lecture slides, course

syllabuses, lecture notes, tests, examinations, and other literary, artistic, dramatic, and

cinematographic works used in the MGT330 Course (the “MGT330 Course

Materials”).

21. Dr. Ai Taniguchi is Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream, in the Department of

Language Studies at the University. She has been an Assistant Professor teaching

linguistics at the University since 2020 and has taught numerous courses, including

English Grammar I (LIN204), English Grammar II (LIN205), English Words Through

Space and Time (LIN233), and Lexical Semantics (LIN337).

22. During the 2021-2022 academic year, Dr. Taniguchi taught English Grammar

I – LIN204 during the Fall 2021 term (the “Taniguchi LIN204 Course”) to nearly 700

students. Dr. Taniguchi has taught this course since 2020.

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23. Over the course of her career at the University, Dr. Taniguchi has created

original course materials, including the PowerPoint presentations, lecture slides,

lecture videos, course syllabuses, lecture notes, homework assignments, tests,

examinations, and other literary, artistic, dramatic, and audiovisual works used in the

Taniguchi LIN204 Course (the “LIN204 Course Materials”), and in other courses

including LIN233.

24. The ECO101 Course Materials, the MGT330 Course Materials, and the LIN204

Course Materials are all compilations that are University Course Materials. The

original works created by the Professors and included in the ECO101 Course Materials,

the MGT330 Course Materials, and the LIN204 Course Materials are also University

Course Materials.

IV. University Course Materials

25. The University Course Materials—including each of the original works created

by the Professors and included in the ECO101 Course Materials, the MGT330 Course

Materials, and the LIN204 Course Materials, as well as those and other compilations

of University Course Materials—are works that are protected in Canada under the

Copyright Act.

26. The Professors are the sole authors of their respective University Course

Materials (which, for greater certainty, include both the compilations prepared by the

Professors and the individual University Course Materials that those compilations

contain). In each case, these works are original and represent an exercise of the

Professor’s skill and judgment fixed in a material form.

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27. At the date of the creation of their respective University Course Materials, each

of the Professors was a citizen or subject of, or ordinarily resident in, Canada.

28. Section 2.1 of the University’s Copyright Policy, dated February 15, 2018,

provides that University Course Materials created by the Professors are not deemed to

be made or undertaken in the course of their employment by the University. Therefore,

the Professors, as the authors of their respective University Course Materials, were the

first owners of copyright in those works.

29. By written agreement, Professors Gazzale and Taniguchi assigned to the

University their copyright, including the right to pursue remedies for infringement, in

an October 2020 midterm examination and a June 2018 final examination for the

Gazzale ECO101 Course, in the case of Professor Gazzale, and in certain PowerPoint

presentations, course notes, and videorecorded lectures for the Taniguchi LIN204

Course, in the case of Professor Taniguchi. Otherwise, the Professors have not licensed

or assigned any right, title, or interest in their respective University Course Materials

to any third party.

30. As owners of copyright in University Course Materials, the University and the

Professors enjoy the exclusive rights under the Copyright Act to, among other things,

a. reproduce their respective University Course Materials, or any

substantial part of them, in any material form,

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b. produce, reproduce, and publish translations of their respective

University Course Materials, or any substantial part of them, in any

material form,

c. make contrivances by means of which their respective University

Course Materials, or any substantial part of them, may be mechanically

reproduced,

d. communicate their respective University Course Materials, or any

substantial part of them, to the public by telecommunication, including

by making them available to the public by telecommunication in a way

that allows a member of the public to have access to them from a place

and at a time individually chosen by that member of the public, and

e. authorize any of those acts in Canada.

31. Moreover, as the authors of their respective University Course Materials, the

Professors enjoy moral rights to the integrity of those works and the right to be

associated with those works, both pursuant to section 14.1 of the Copyright Act. The

Professors have not waived those moral rights.

V. Easy EDU’s Infringing Activities

32. Easy EDU operates the “Easy Education” website, available at

<https://ez4edu.com/>, which is also sometimes referred to as the “ez4edu” website

(the “Easy EDU Website”) and the websites available at <https://www.easygroup.ca/>

and <https://www.easy-group.cn/> (together, the “Easy Group Websites”). The Easy

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Group Websites link to the Easy EDU Website and describe “ez4edu” as one of its

“brands”.

33. According to the Easy EDU Website, “the company that would become Easy

Group” was founded in 2014 by Yuwei Zhang, a graduate of the University.

34. Easy EDU purports to employ over 600 tutors, to serve over 210,000 students,

and to provide tutoring services for over 1,000 university courses across the country. It

appears to target Chinese international students studying at Canadian universities.

35. Easy EDU’s tutoring services and packages are offered for sale through the

Easy EDU Website. For the Winter 2022 term, the Easy EDU Website offered for sale

over 380 different tutoring packages for courses offered by the University.

36. In addition to the University, the Easy EDU Website identifies a substantial

number of other Canadian post-secondary educational institutions for which services

and tutoring packages are available, including the University of British Columbia, York

University, McGill University, Queen’s University, McMaster University, the

University of Waterloo, Wilfrid Laurier University, the University of Western Ontario,

and the University of Alberta.

37. The Easy EDU Website includes a store page for each institution for which

Easy EDU offers tutoring services. Each store page offers a variety of tutoring

packages, including weekly courses and term and final test reviews, for purchase by

students and members of the public. “Weekly course packages” are priced at as much

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as $1,449 CAD. The packages include sessions with tutors and downloadable course

and tutoring materials.

38. Once a customer purchases a tutoring package from the Easy EDU Website,

Easy EDU provides the customer with access to the Easy EDU “student portal”,

available at <https://academy.easy-group.cn/>, from which they can view and

download the tutoring package materials at their discretion and convenience without

restriction.

39. Among the courses for which Easy EDU has offered “Weekly Course” tutoring

packages for sale are the Gazzale ECO101 Course, the Kramer MGT330 Course, and

the Taniguchi LIN204 Course, as well as for other courses. As described below, each

of those tutoring packages infringes the plaintiffs’ copyright.

40. In particular, and among other things:

a. In the Fall of 2020 and the Fall of 2021, Easy EDU offered for sale

tutoring packages that reproduced the ECO101 Course Materials, in

whole or substantial part, without authorization. Among other things,

Easy EDU reproduced in whole or substantial part “Term Tests” created

by Professor Gazzale for the years 2017, 2018, and 2019.

b. In the Fall of 2020, Easy EDU offered for sale tutoring packages that

reproduced the MGT330 Course Materials, in whole or substantial part,

without authorization. Among other things, Easy EDU reproduced in

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whole or substantial part a “Term Test” created by Professor Kramer for

the year 2018.

c. In the Fall of 2021, Easy EDU offered for sale tutoring packages that

reproduced the LIN204 Course Materials, in whole or substantial part,

without authorization. Among other things, Easy EDU reproduced in

whole or substantial part lecture slides and course notes created by

Professor Taniguchi, as well as Professor Taniguchi’s lectures.

41. In each of those cases, Easy EDU made the infringing tutoring packages, and

the University Course Materials they contain, available to the public by

telecommunication in a way that allowed a member of the public to have access to them

from a place and at a time individually chosen by that member of the public, and thus

communicated those University Course Materials to the public by telecommunication.

42. Easy EDU has infringed the plaintiffs’ exclusive rights by

a. reproducing University Course Materials, in whole or in substantial

part,

b. producing, reproducing, and publishing translations of University

Course Materials, in whole or in substantial part,

c. making contrivances by means of which University Course Materials,

in whole or in substantial part, may be mechanically reproduced, i.e.,

master copies from which Easy EDU’s customers may make and

download copies of their own,

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d. communicating University Course Materials, in whole or in substantial

part, to the public by telecommunication, in whole or substantial part,

to the public by telecommunication in a way that allows a member of

the public to have access to it from a place and at a time individually

chosen by that member of the public, and

e. authorizing others to carry out such activities,

all without authorization by the plaintiffs.

43. Easy EDU has also infringed the plaintiffs’ exclusive rights by

a. selling,

b. distributing to such an extent as to affect prejudicially the owner of the

copyright,

c. distributing, exposing or offering for sale by way of trade, and

d. possessing, for these purposes,

copies of University Course Materials that Easy EDU knew or should have known

infringe copyright or would infringe copyright if they had been made in Canada by the

person who made them.

44. Moreover, by failing to credit the Professors for their works—despite claiming

to do so—Easy EDU has infringed their moral rights in their respective University

Course Materials. Easy EDU has also infringed the Professors’ rights to the integrity

of their respective University Course Materials by distorting, mutilating, or otherwise

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modifying them, and by using University Course Materials in association with Easy

EDU, all to the prejudice of the Professors’ honour and reputations.

45. The full extent of Easy EDU’s unauthorized use of University Course Materials

is unknown to them but is known to Easy EDU. The University and the Professors

plead and rely on each and every other infringing use of any work owned by the

University or the Professors that may be discovered through this proceeding and the

trial of the action.

VI. Easy EDU’s Persistent Unlawful Use of University Course Materials

46. Easy EDU’s infringement of the plaintiffs’ exclusive rights is persistent and

ongoing despite repeated demands to cease and desist.

47. On October 21, 2020, the University became aware that, on October 18, 2020,

Easy EDU reproduced, in whole or substantial part, and communicated to the public

by telecommunication, University Course Materials, including a test created and

owned by Professor Gazzale, during the 24-hour examination period in which that test

was being administered.

48. On October 28, 2020, representatives of the University met with Gary (Zhiyu)

Kang, who represents himself as the CEO of “Easy Education” and “co-founder of

Easy Group”, to discuss issues of academic integrity and infringement.

49. At that meeting, the University representatives told Mr. Kang that Easy EDU

was not permitted to copy or use works in which the University or its faculty owned

copyright.

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50. In correspondence with Mr. Kang in or around November 2020, the University

demanded that Easy EDU cease and desist from infringing the MGT330 Course

Materials and ensure that none of its tutoring materials copied the University’s or its

instructors’ materials.

51. In an email dated December 16, 2020, Mr. Kang stated that:

“We will also be undertaking a robust review of our tutoring materials over the
coming winter break. We will ensure there is absolutely no copyright
infringement. We understand the importance of following the guidelines set out
by the University of Toronto in order to uphold the highest standards of
academic integrity.”

52. However, Easy EDU has continued to create and sell tutoring packages that

infringe University Course Material and compilations of University Course Materials.

53. On April 30, 2021, external counsel for the University and the Professors sent

a cease and desist letter to Easy EDU. The letter demanded, among other things, that

Easy EDU cease and desist from their unlawful use of teaching materials, including

University Course Materials, owned in whole or in part by the University, Professor

Gazzale, Professor Kramer, or the University’s faculty and staff.

54. None of the University, the Professors, or their counsel received a response to

that letter.

55. Easy EDU continued and continues to exploit University Course Materials. As

of the issuance date of this Statement of Claim, the Easy EDU Website continues to

offer for purchase hundreds of tutoring packages for courses offered by the University,

among many other institutions.

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VII. Harm and Damage Suffered by the Plaintiffs as a Result of Easy EDU’s
Activities

56. The University and the Professors, as well as the University’s students, have

suffered and continue to suffer significant irreparable harm, loss, and damage as a result

of Easy EDU’s activities. That includes the diminution of value of University Course

Materials and harm to the reputations and perceived integrity of both the University

and the Professors as a result of being involuntarily associated with Easy EDU.

57. Easy EDU’s activities have led and are likely to lead to the false impression

among the University’s student body and others that Easy EDU is associated with or

otherwise endorsed by the University. In particular, Easy EDU’s unauthorized use of

copyright materials in tutoring packages has led many students to believe that the

University and the Professors collaborate with or endorse Easy EDU and its tutoring

services. This false impression is harmful to the University and to the Professors, who

do not have any control over the content or quality of the services or tutoring packages

sold by Easy EDU or over any actions taken by Easy EDU.

58. Easy EDU’s unauthorized activities also create substantial risks of academic

misconduct by University students. By providing students with copies of the

Professors’ teaching and examination materials in its tutoring packages, and showing

them how to answer questions or assignments in those materials, Easy EDU has

provided students with unauthorized academic assistance that has led many of them to

breach the University’s Code of Behaviour on Academic Matters, 1995 (the “Code”).

That can lead—and has in fact led—to sanctions for academic misconduct and

cheating. Those sanctions have serious actual and potential consequences for

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international students, who may lose their Canadian study permits, become ineligible

for post-graduation work permits, or potentially even face deportation if they choose

not to leave the country during a suspension from the University. Other consequences

for students include automatic course failures, lengthy suspensions from the

University, and delayed admissions to other programs or inability to gain admission to

their program of choice.

59. For example, in a recent decision of the University Tribunal related to the

academic misconduct of a student who used and relied on Easy EDU’s services and

infringing tutoring packages, a student was sanctioned with a final grade of zero, a five-

year suspension from the University, and a notation of the offence on their academic

record and transcript.

60. In other instances, sanctioned students have inquired why the University would

permit itself to be associated with Easy EDU when students can suffer such serious

consequences. As described above, no such association exists.

61. Easy EDU’s activities have also created substantial time burdens for the

Professors and for the University. University staff, the Professors and other faculty

have spent hundreds of additional hours on investigations and meetings with students,

as well as related administration, as a result of academic misconduct stemming from

Easy EDU’s infringing activities.

62. Easy EDU has exploited the quality of University Course Materials, and the

Professors’ considerable experience, education, skill and judgment, for its own

commercial purposes, namely marketing and selling its tutoring services and packages

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to students. As a result of its unauthorized use of University Course Materials, Easy

EDU has enjoyed significant sales and growth in its business. The University and the

Professors are therefore entitled, in addition to damages, to all profits realized by Easy

EDU from its infringements.

63. In the alternative, the University and the Professors are entitled to claim

statutory damages, pursuant to section 38.1(1)(a) of the Copyright Act, in the maximum

statutory amount of $20,000 per work or other subject matter infringed.

64. Notably, Easy EDU’s Code of Conduct, available on the Easy EDU Website at

<https://ez4edu.com/coc.html> states the following:

“All Easy Group instructors are expected to respect the intellectual property of
others and to ensure their teaching materials are either: a) their own
intellectual property; b) the intellectual property of Easy Education; or c) have
express permission from the owner.”

65. Disclaimers in the infringing Easy EDU tutoring packages also state the

following:

“We acknowledge that this package contains some materials provided by

professors and staff of the University of Toronto, and the sources of these
materials are cited in details [sic] wherever they appear.”

66. However, in stark contrast with its Code of Conduct and disclaimers, Easy EDU

has copied extensively and without authorization from, or credit to, the Professors and

the University.

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VIII. Punitive Damages and Injunctive Relief Are Also Warranted

67. Easy EDU’s knowing, high-handed, wilful, and malicious disregard for the

University’s and the Professors’ exclusive economic and moral rights in University

Course Materials also warrants an award of punitive and exemplary damages.

68. There is a significant need to deter Easy EDU and other commercial actors from

exploiting University Course Materials and other materials in which copyright is

owned by the Professors, the University, and its faculty, as well as other educational

institutions and their faculty and staff, without authorization, to create and sell tutoring

services and packages to students.

69. Easy EDU’s wilful and deliberate misconduct is further evidenced by its failure

to cease its infringing activities despite being put on notice and expressly agreeing to

do so, and by its ongoing infringements of copyright in University Course Materials

and other works owned or controlled by the University and the Professors.

70. Easy EDU’s disregard for the intellectual property rights of others is also

evident in its flagrant violation of its own Code of Conduct. In pursuit of its commercial

purposes, Easy EDU has blatantly breached its own Code of Conduct as it relates to

intellectual property rights and attribution.

71. The University and the Professors have suffered, and continue to suffer, serious

and irreparable harm, loss, and damage, and harm to their honour and reputations, as a

result of their being associated involuntarily with Easy EDU. The University and the

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Professors are therefore entitled to permanent injunctive relief prohibiting Easy EDU

from any further unauthorized use of University Course Materials.

72. Further, unless a wide injunction is granted in accordance with section 39.1 of

the Copyright Act, Easy EDU is highly likely to infringe the University’s and the

Professors’ exclusive rights in works and other subject matter other than those

particularized in this pleading, including works and other subject matter that now exist

or may later come into existence in which the University and/or the Professors now or

later become owners of copyright or holders of an interest in copyright. The likelihood

of its doing so is evident both from the extent of its infringing conduct to date and from

its failure to cease that conduct even after receiving demands to do so and undertaking

in writing to stop.

73. The University and the Professors plead and rely on the Copyright Act,

including sections 2.4, 3, 5, 13, 14.1, 27, 28.1, 28.2, 34, 34.1, 35, 38.1, and 39.1.

The plaintiffs propose that this action be tried at Toronto, Ontario.

DATED at Toronto, Ontario, this 9th day of May, 2022.

Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP

2100 Scotia Plaza, 40 King Street West
Toronto, Ontario
M5H 3C2

Casey M. Chisick LSO #: 46572R

Tel: 416.869.5403
Fax: 416.644.9326
Email: [email protected]

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Jessica Zagar LSO #: 57305Q

Tel: 416.869.5449
Fax: 647.259.7969
Email: [email protected]

Sebastian Beck-Watt LSO # 74221L

Tel: 416.860.6726
Fax: 416.360.8877
Email: [email protected]

Solicitors for the plaintiffs

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