Tommy Wiseau asked by court to pay $700,000 to 'The Room' documentary makers

Actor-director Tommy Wiseau has been ordered by a Canadian court to pay USD 700,000 to the makers of an unauthorized documentary about his universally panned film "The Room". According to Variety, the documentary, "Room Full of Spoons", by Richard Harper, Fernando Forerero McGrath, Mark Racicot, and Richard Towns, was scheduled to release in 2017 following the debut of "The Disaster Artist", starring James Franco, but Wiseau thwarted it.

The filmmaker obtained an injunction citing a violation of copyright and an invasion of privacy. He claimed that the documentary used clips from his 2003 movie and also revealed the fact that he was born in Poland, which he had aimed to keep secret. The case went to trial in January and on April 23, the Superior Court Judge Paul Schabas ruled in favor of the documentary makers.

The judge called the usage of the use of clips from the film as "fair dealing" and added that details on Wiseau’s origins were "available from public sources, which is how the defendants obtained and confirmed it". Schabas ordered Wiseau to pay USD 550,000 to Harper, McGrath, Racicot, and Towns in lost revenue due to the thwarted release.

He also awarded close to USD 150,000 in punitive damages, citing Wiseau’s "oppressive and outrageous" conduct toward the documentary makers. "This action was brought for the improper purpose of preventing the release of a documentary disliked by Tommy Wiseau," the judge said.

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