Parents file $1.5M lawsuit after Quebec teacher allegedly lists students' art for sale online
Parents of Montreal-area high school students whose artwork was allegedly listed for sale online by their art teacher have officially filed a lawsuit.
Ten parents filed a complaint under the Copyright Act for $1.575 million, or $155,000 per plaintiff, from teacher Mario Perron and the Lester B. Pearson School Board (LBPSB) for alleged intellectual property infringement. They are also asking for an apology and for the removal of the students' artwork from the website.
In February, students as young as 12 attending Westwood Junior High School in Saint-Lazare, Que. discovered their own drawings on multiple items listed for sale online, including t-shirts sold for $55, coffee mugs for $41, and even iPhone cases, being sold at $35 each. The story made international headlines and angry parents vowed to sue.
The documents have now been filed with the Quebec court, according to parent Joel DeBellefeuille. His brother, lawyer Martin DeBellefeuille, is representing the parents.
A bailiff is expected to serve the legal papers to the school board shortly, at which point it will have two weeks to respond.
The Lester B. Pearson School Board told CTV News on Friday that it does not comment on internal investigations of human resources issues. Last month the school board confirmed it had launched an administrative investigation into the teacher.
- With files from CTV News Montreal's Max Harrold
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Invasive and toxic hammerhead worms make themselves at home in Ontario
Ontario is now home to an invasive and toxic worm species that can grow up to three feet long and can be dangerous to small animals and pets.
Opinion I just don't get Taylor Swift
It's one thing to say you like Taylor Swift and her music, but don't blame CNN's AJ Willingham's when she says she just 'doesn't get' the global phenomenon.
It's 30 years since apartheid ended. South Africa's celebrations are set against growing discontent
South Africa marked 30 years since the end of apartheid and the birth of its democracy with a ceremony in the capital Saturday that included a 21-gun salute and the waving of the nation's multicolored flag.
Britney Spears settles long-running legal dispute with estranged father, finally bringing ultimate end to conservatorship
Britney Spears has reached a settlement with her estranged father more than two years after the court-ordered termination of a conservatorship that had given him control of her life, their attorneys said.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
opinion RFK Jr.'s presidential candidacy and its potential threat to Biden and Trump
Although it's still unclear how much damage Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s candidacy can do to either Joe Biden or Donald Trump this election, Washington political columnist Eric Ham says what is clear is both sides recognize the potential threat.
Haida elder suing Catholic Church and priest, hopes for 'healing and reconciliation'
The lawyer for a residential school survivor leading a proposed class-action defamation lawsuit against the Catholic Church over residential schools says the court action is a last resort.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
From pop to politics, what to know as Sweden prepares for the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest
Taking place in May in Malmo, Sweden, the 68th annual competition will see acts from 37 countries vie for the continent’s pop crown in a feelgood extravaganza that strives — not always successfully – to banish international strife and division. And you don’t have to be in Europe to watch, or to help pick the winner.