MONTREAL — The local school board near Montreal has announced that they are no longer facing a substantial $1.6 million lawsuit which previously claimed one of their teachers was selling students' artworks online without informing them.
In March 2024, ten parents from the Montreal area initiated legal action against both the school board and an instructor following the discovery that their kids' class art projects were being sold online. These items, priced up to $113, included print reproductions as well as apparel like T-shirts, drinkware such as coffee mugs, accessories, and home décor pieces.
On Wednesday, Lester B. Pearson School Board released a statement indicating they looked into the accusations and determined that the educator—referred to in legal papers as Mario Perron—had inadvertently erred. The board also mentioned that appropriate punitive measures were taken against him.
The school board along with the teachers issued an apology regarding the issue faced by the students and their families, emphasizing that this mistake occurred unintentionally during an educational exercise with no malicious intent, according to a statement from the board.
The board states that the teacher uploaded pictures of the students' art pieces to his individual Pixels/Fine Arts America page in February 2024. According to them, these works were published online as part of an instructional session focused on photo editing skills, with no intention of selling the illustrations.
The board states that the teacher did not realize a marketing template on the site he utilized was active, which resulted in price tags being mistakenly added to the students’ work without his awareness. Several students spotted this and informed their parents about it.
The lawsuit claimed that Perron planned to benefit financially from his students’ efforts; however, the board’s statement disputes this. According to the statement, “The educator maintained that he never aimed to sell any of his pupils' sketches or items produced based on those sketches,” as stated in the document.
The Lester B. Pearson school board stated that the website verified that neither the illustrations nor any other creations were sold, and that Perron did not receive any funds as a result.
"The moment the instructor received notification... they promptly initiated actions via the site to rectify the issue and eliminate all student artwork or related creations that may have been put up for sale," the statement read.
The parents, who were initially demanding $155,000 each along with punitive damages and an apology from Westwood Junior High School, have decided to withdraw their lawsuit.
The board did not disclose the specific penalty imposed on the teacher but stated that it was fitting, particularly considering he continues to be an educator committed to his students' achievements and education.
Each party consented to refrain from making additional remarks on the issue due to a confidentiality pact they had entered into.
The report from The Canadian Press was initially released on April 3, 2025.
Sidhartha Banerjee, from The Canadian Press