The Toronto Star is reporting that oral arguments in the appeal of the Turmel v CBC (Dragons' Den) decision are currently underway ("Brantford entrepreneur claims 'Dragons' defamed him"). The Turmel decisions are valuable for Canadian entertainment lawyers because they are among the few reported decisions which consider the enforceability of depiction releases for television programs.

Some background: Turmel appeared on an episode of the CBC television program Dragons' Den - a "reality TV show" which, per the Wikipedia entry, features "entrepreneurs pitching their business ideas in order to secure investment finance from a panel of venture capitalists". Turmel was unhappy with the manner in which he was depicted on the show, and sued the CBC for defamation. He actually sued twice: the first action (2010 ONSC 5318) (which we'll refer to as the Lofchik decision, after the judge hearing the case), which the plaintiff filed after the episode was first broadcast, was dismissed following the defendant's application for summary judgment;

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