David has bested Goliath in the protracted legal battle between the children’s producer formerly known as Cinar Corp. and the lone animator who accused the company of ripping him off.

Quebec Justice Claude Auclair awarded artist Claude Robinson $5.2 million, agreeing that his 1982 creation Robinson Curiosité was plagiarized by the company to make the children’s program Robinson Sucroé. In 1996, Robinson launched a $2.5 million copyright-infringement suit in Quebec Superior Court against Cinar, claiming the company stole the cartoon character.

‘We are very happy. The judge clearly found this was a copyright violation,’ explained the director of Quebec writers association SARTEC, Yves Légaré. SARTEC set up a fund of more than $80,000 to help Robinson cover the costs of his 13-year battle with the company. ‘It was a major priority for us. But we stood behind him because he had such a solid case. He had a great deal of proof,’ said Légaré.