{"id":14113,"date":"2024-03-31T01:41:34","date_gmt":"2024-03-31T01:41:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/03\/31\/teacher-secretly-sold-his-students-art-on-mugs-and-shirts-lawsuit-says\/"},"modified":"2024-03-31T01:41:34","modified_gmt":"2024-03-31T01:41:34","slug":"teacher-secretly-sold-his-students-art-on-mugs-and-shirts-lawsuit-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/03\/31\/teacher-secretly-sold-his-students-art-on-mugs-and-shirts-lawsuit-says\/","title":{"rendered":"Teacher Secretly Sold His Students\u2019 Art on Mugs and Shirts, Lawsuit Says"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1050\" height=\"550\" src=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/03\/29\/multimedia\/29xp-teacher-suit\/29xp-teacher-suit-facebookJumbo.jpg?resize=1050,550&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Teacher Secretly Sold His Students\u2019 Art on Mugs and Shirts, Lawsuit Says\" title=\"Teacher Secretly Sold His Students\u2019 Art on Mugs and Shirts, Lawsuit Says\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In January, students at a junior high school outside Montreal received an assignment to draw a classmate or a self-portrait in the style of Jean-Michel Basquiat.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThe challenge is to make an original artwork in Basquiat\u2019s style; not to copy one of his images,\u201d the teacher, Mario Perron, wrote to his students on the junior campus at Westwood High School in St.-Lazare, Quebec. \u201cI am very familiar with Basquiat\u2019s work and will return copied work, because it is considered plagiarism.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The assignment was titled \u201cCreepy Portrait.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Basquiat was a worthy subject: He was the influential Brooklyn-born artist of Haitian and Puerto Rican descent who was known for a brief career in which he innovated with graffiti and other types of improvisational pieces. He died at <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1988\/08\/15\/obituaries\/jean-basquiat-27-an-artist-of-words-and-angular-images.html\" title=\"\">27 in 1988<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But parents of some students who completed the assignment were shocked to find that Mr. Perron had copied the portraits and was offering mugs, cushions, bags, apparel and other items for sale online bearing reproductions of the artwork, according to a class-action lawsuit filed last week in Quebec Superior Court.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Joel DeBellefeuille, who learned what was happening from his 13-year-old son, Jax, accused Mr. Perron in an interview of perpetrating a \u201cpremeditated\u201d scheme. A portrait of Jax by one of his classmates was among the student artwork being offered for sale, he said. <\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\"><em class=\"css-2fg4z9 e1gzwzxm0\">\u201c<\/em>I freaked out,\u201d Mr. DeBellefeuille said. \u201cI was full of emotions. Still now, it\u2019s really unbelievable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Perron, who did not respond to a request for comment, is not listed as a current employee on <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/westwood.lbpsb.qc.ca\/Junior\/Staff\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">the school\u2019s website<\/a>. Darren Becker, a spokesman for the Lester B. Pearson School Board, which is a named defendant in the suit, said the school board \u201cdoes not comment on internal investigations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">It was not immediately clear if Mr. Perron had sold any of the items he listed, or how much money, if any, he had made.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. DeBellefeuille first discovered that the art had been repurposed on Feb. 8, when his son, who had done a Google search, showed him that Mr. Perron had created a profile on <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/fineartamerica.com\/aboutthissite.html\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Fine Art America<\/a>, an online art marketplace. The profile had thousands of items for sale displaying the work originally submitted by the students, priced between $9.50 and $113 in U.S. currency, all apparently unauthorized.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Each item was labeled with the student\u2019s first name followed by \u201cCreepy Portrait.\u201d The drawings themselves mimic the frenetic style of Basquiat \u2014 multicolored portraits that nod to the unconventional and imaginative, including many oddly shaped heads and contorted bodies. Mr. Perron was listed as the artist for all of the works, according to screenshots provided by Mr. DeBellefeuille.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In total, according to a demand letter sent to the school district on Feb. 13, there were 2,976 items for sale using works from the 96 students who were given the assignment. The student artwork was reproduced in 31 categories, including throw pillows, tank tops, tote bags and beach towels, according to the letter.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The works appear to have been removed from the Fine Art America website.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cIt is evident that the trust of the public, the students, the parents, and specifically our clients, in the school board and its representatives, has been severely shaken,\u201d the letter said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. DeBellefeuille\u2019s brother Martin, a lawyer, initially sent the letter on behalf of Mr. DeBellefeuille and Edith Liard, the parent of another child in the art class. The parents of 10 other children have since attached themselves to the suit, Mr. DeBellefeuille said, including two who added their names after it was filed on Friday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The plaintiffs are seeking 2.16 million Canadian dollars, or about $1.59 million, a figure that includes 5,000 Canadian dollars for each work reproduced in the 31 categories as well as punitive damages and legal fees. They are also demanding that Mr. Perron withdraw the works from all platforms, for him to be suspended and for a written apology.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Under the Canadian Copyright Act, a copyright owner <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/laws-lois.justice.gc.ca\/eng\/acts\/C-42\/page-11.html#h-103952\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">may be entitled to between<\/a> 500 and 20,000 Canadian dollars for each work that is unlawfully used. Under Canadian law, one does not need to file for a copyright to be <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/publications.gc.ca\/collections\/collection_2010\/opic-cipo\/Iu71-4-4-2008-eng.pdf\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">considered a copyright owner<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The suit cites the Civil Code of Quebec as the reason the school board is <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.canlii.org\/en\/qc\/laws\/stat\/cqlr-c-ccq-1991\/217719\/cqlr-c-ccq-1991.html\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">named as a<\/a> defendant. It says that \u201cthe principal is bound to make reparation for injury caused by the fault of his subordinates in the performance of their duties.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. DeBellefeuille said he expected that the school district would settle rather than go to court.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cFor me, it takes a special kind of person to go that deep to do what he did to minor children,\u201d Mr. DeBellefeuille said of Mr. Perron. \u201cThis is what enrages me.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In January, students at a junior high school outside Montreal received an assignment to draw a classmate or a self-portrait in the style of Jean-Michel Basquiat. \u201cThe challenge is to make an original artwork in Basquiat\u2019s style; not to copy one of his images,\u201d the teacher, Mario Perron, wrote to his students on the junior [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":14114,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/03\/29\/multimedia\/29xp-teacher-suit\/29xp-teacher-suit-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[18661,2474,19711,19710,19712,2508,3928,19484],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14113"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14113"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14113\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14115,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14113\/revisions\/14115"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}