For more than a decade, Adbusters has been trying to get its 15-second and 30-second "social marketing" spots, which tackle issues such as obesity and consumer consumption, on to Canadian TV networks with no success.
The oraganisation also promotes "Annual buy nothing day", where it encourages consumers from around the world not to consume for the day.
The legal action from the organisation was launched earlier this week against CBC, CTV, CanWest Global and CHUM. The prominent civil rights lawyer Clayton Ruby will act as counsel for the group.
According to Adbusters, when Canadian TV broadcasters rejected its spots they gave some alarming reasons.
"Reasons that put them squarely on-side with their corporate sponsors, like McDonald's and Wal-Mart, and directly against citizens' right to free speech on the publicly owned airwaves," the group said.
Broadcasters in Canada allegedly described Adbuster's spots as "counterproductive".
This is not the first fight AdBusters has picked. The organisation recently announced plans to launch its own brand of "ethical" trainers in an attempt to hijack Nike's business in protest over the sport brand's history of exploitative labour practices.
But Nike maintains that it has a strict code of conduct and carries out regular internal and external audits to weed out child workers.
The new Blackspot trainer is being supported by a marketing budget of around 拢130,000 and is being made in Portugal where workers are paid a decent wage in making the shoes.
So far, Nike is believed to have foiled plans by the collective to put up a billboard near Nike's headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon by pulling strings at the outdoor advertising company Viacom, according to Adbusters .
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