Parents are suing a Quebec teacher after they allegedly put their students' art up for sale online

A Quebec couple is suing their children's art teacher after their children's art was put up for sale online without their knowledge.

The parents sued their children's teachers, Mario Perron and Lester B., through a bailiff on Tuesday. Pearson School Board (LBPSB) has been sued for $350,000 in moral and punitive damages for intellectual property infringement. Their demands also include a formal apology and the removal of the art from the teacher's website.

Last Thursday, CTV News reported that students at Westwood Junior High School in St. Lazare, a suburb of Montreal, discovered their artwork had been posted online when they Googled their teacher's name.

The incident gained international attention and made headlines in Australia, Great Britain and the United States.

A few days after the first art tutorial appeared online, some parents decided to take action.

“The items, valued between $30 and $120, were used without the consent of their creators, in bad faith, and in violation of all laws regarding the artist's intellectual property. Nothing allowed Mr. Perron to appropriate the work of his students. This action is even more egregious because, in a school context, the authorities arises from the use of material created by students, which is sold at a high price under control and with impunity,” says their letter of demand.

The legal notice was filed on behalf of parents Joel DeBelfel and Edith Liard and addressed to the LBPSB Chairman and Commissioner. Liard felt he had no choice but to bring in lawyers because he said the school board had kept him in the dark about the entire ordeal.

“The school came forward and said, 'Look, we just found out what happened and we're sorry for what happened. We'll let you know about the investigation or something.'

“(The teacher) is not reaching out. He's not taking down the art. The school is not reaching out to us. Nobody's letting us know what's going on. So, no, I think legal action should be taken. That's why I'm doing it.”

School board spokesman Darren Becker confirmed to CTV News that he received the letter and that it was “subsequently forwarded to the school board's insurance company, so we don't have anything else to add at this time.”

The school board said in an email last week that it has opened an administrative investigation into the incident and “takes these allegations very seriously.”

The parents threatened to take the matter to court if the teacher and the board did not pay the demanded damages and other demands within five days.

Last week, DeBellefeuille told CTV News that she was shocked when her 13-year-old son came home from school last week and was told that a portrait drawn by another student in his class had been posted online with a price tag. $151.

The image, along with images of several other students, has appeared on many items for sale, including coffee mugs, t-shirts, yoga mats and iPhone cases. As of Tuesday afternoon, the students' artwork was still visible on the teacher's website, but it appeared to have been removed by evening.

Perron's LinkedIn and Facebook accounts were also unavailable Tuesday evening.

Several attempts to contact the teacher last week were unsuccessful. He did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday afternoon.