Official lawsuit against Quebec art teacher, LBPSB coming next week: parent

One of the nine parents taking legal action against a Quebec art teacher who allegedly listed his students’ art for sale online without their knowledge or consent says a demand letter has been ignored.

Earlier this month the parents sent a letter though a bailiff to Westwood Junior High School teacher Mario Perron and the Lester B. Pearson School Board (LBPSB).

BACKGROUND: Quebec teacher allegedly lists students’ art for sale on his website; parents take legal action

Each parent is seeking $175,000, for a total of $1.575 million.

One of the parents, Joel DeBellefeuille, is alleging Perron and the school board “have chosen the path of outright refusal to address the contents of the demand letter.”

DeBellefeuille says the parties had until Friday at 5 p.m. to respond.

“One would seem to think that the schoolboard is condoning the actions of Mr. Mario Perron as they are choosing to continue to remain defiant and silent on this egregious abuse and historical copyright infringement by the art teacher, that made headlines around the world,” DeBellefeuille wrote in a statement to the media Friday evening.

DeBellefeuille says the parents’ attorney will file an official lawsuit against the Perron and the LBPSB next week in a Superior Court of Quebec.

The initial demand letter claims this all stems from a discovery made by the students of the Saint-Lazare school on Feb. 8, when they allegedly found work created by students for sale on the teacher’s website.

“The items, priced between 30USD and 120USD, were used without the consent of their creators, in bad faith, and in violation of all laws related to the intellectual property of an artist,” the letter reads.

Only two parents were part of the initial demand letter. That grew to eight parents in the following days, and DeBellefeuille says a ninth joined on Thursday.

DeBellefeuille claims Perron’s art class is now being monitored by a substitute teacher “with little to no direction provided by the school.”