A group of parents recently filed a lawsuit for more than $1.5 million Canadian dollars ($1.16 million) against an art teacher and a school board after students found classroom artworks available for purchase on the instructor’s personal website.
The students attended Westwood Junior High School in the Quebec suburb of Saint-Lazare. The lawsuit, filed in Quebec Superior Court on March 22, seeks $1.58 million, or $155,000 for each of the 10 students, plus punitive damages, against former instructor Mario Perron and Lester B. Pearson School Board on the allegations of copyright infringement.
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The lawsuit states that in January, Perron assigned his 96 students to draw themselves or a classmate a portrait inspired by the style of artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. The project was titled “Creepy Portrait.” After students turned in the assignment in February, they found images of their “Creepy Portraits” being sold on Perron’s website. According to CBC News, some items were priced as high as $174.
The parents represented by the lawsuit also want a written apology from Perron, the removal of the students’ artwork from all websites, and a report of any sales made from the “Creepy Portrait” images.
One parent represented in the lawsuit said that the experience reduced her daughter’s interest in art and turned her off of the idea of becoming an artist.
“My daughter loves art, always has been into art, and this year after everything happened, she said to me, ‘I don’t think I’ll do art next year,'” Edith Liard told CBC News. “I was surprised because she’s always been artsy at home before school, and she actually picked Westwood because of their art program.”
Another parent represented in the lawsuit, Joel DeBellefeuille, said the amount of money being sought represented the scale of student works listed for sale on t-shirts, mugs, and other merchandise online.
“We requested $5,000 per artwork that was infringed,” DeBellefeuille told CBC News, noting there were 31 pieces of plagiarized merchandise per student.
Under Canada’s Copyright Act, statutory damages for infringements of a commercial nature range from $500 to $20,000 per work.