At the outset of each school year, parents and guardians must fill out what is known as the Toronto District School Board’s (TDSB) Permissions Package, which requires acknowledgement of a school’s Code Of Conduct, permission for various activities, among other items. A problematic clause, however, appears in paragraph two, titled Student Media Release Consent, which reads, in part:

I, the parent/guardian, hereby agree and give my permission for the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) and/or partners to record, film, photograph, audiotape or videotape my child’s name, image, student work, and performance (hereinafter collectively referred to as “Works”) and to display, publish or distribute these Works for the purpose of publishing, posting on the TDSB website, posting in schools, posting on social media sites and/or for broadcasting on television or radio as determined by the TDSB. 

I hereby waive any right to approve the use of these Works now or in the future, whether the use is known to me or unknown, and I waive any right to any royalties related to the use of these Works. 

As both of the highlighted ideas are presented as part of a single clause, parents and guardians cannot opt out of royalty rights forfeiture without similarly removing their child from having their picture taken. Photographing a student and/or the student’s work, should not preclude their rights to this work; these are two distinct ideas and should not be conflated. Additionally, the rights in question are tantamount to ownership rights, and potential revenues are to be allocated to the TDSB and not the individual.  

As worded, if a student does not wish to waive the rights to their own painting, they also cannot be photographed during an assembly. Conversely, if a student consents to be recorded during a school talent show, the rights to their original song —which they had written and practised at home— would be the property of the TDSB. Just as entertainers or authors don’t relinquish these rights when appearing as guests at the TDSB’s invitation, the school board cannot presuppose or argue that student performances or other works belong to it because of the venue. Children should be afforded every opportunity to participate in school activities with their peers, without having to waive their rights to ownership or revenue. 

Further, it is at the TDSB’s sole discretion whether a child’s own work can be displayed, published or distributed in the public sphere. Such determinations should rest with the author, not the TDSB, which should be encouraging creative expression, not seizing it. 

Whether or not it is unlikely student work will go on to command vast fortunes when disseminated to the public, is immaterial. Erroneously known as Work For Hire (in truth, Corporate Authorship), the expectation of artists to waive their rights so that corporations and other entities might benefit from that work, is an increasingly common problem. This is particularly so in an age of digital communication when artists of all stripes are both discovered online, and their works are often used without consent or compensation. 

The two ideas of participation and remuneration must be decoupled, while the current rights ownership passage needs to be eliminated entirely from the Permissions Package sent to all TDSB families. 

Let your local TDSB trustee, as well as Colleen Russell-Rawlins, Director Of Eduction for the Toronto District School Board, know you want to restore ownership and royalty rights to students.