Lakehead School Board Awarded Damages in Copyright Infringement Case
The buildings may be gone, but the Lakehead District School Board still retains the copyright to the names, mascots, logos, and color schemes of six former high schools. In a ruling last month, Superior Court Justice Helen M. Pierce found that local entrepreneur Anna Mauro violated the board’s copyright when she sold a “high school nostalgia” line of clothing without permission.
Mauro was ordered to pay approximately $24,000 in damages, representing the sales of sweatshirts and t-shirts featuring the former high schools—FWCI, PACI, Selkirk CVI, Churchill CVI, Lakeview High School, and Hillcrest High School.
The case originated in late 2022, when the board’s lawyer sent Mauro a letter asserting its copyright and requesting that she remove the infringing items from sale. Mauro responded, claiming she was unaware of any copyright issues and suggested fundraising collaboration with the board through her products. However, when Mauro declined to immediately stop selling the items, citing her pop-up store’s seasonal peak, the board threatened legal action.
Mauro continued selling the clothing for 23 more days in December 2022. She later defended her actions in court, claiming her designs were inspired by generic 1980s high school apparel and used schools that no longer existed. She argued the board could not claim copyright over common names like Hillcrest or Churchill, and that her designs did not breach copyright as they differed from original logos.
Justice Pierce, however, ruled that Mauro’s designs evoked nostalgia specifically for the closed Thunder Bay high schools, citing the combined use of historic school colors, mascots, and logos. The court concluded the school board retained copyright over the names, logos, and mascots of its former schools and that Mauro had infringed this right by failing to seek permission.
The judge ordered a permanent injunction barring the use of any of the board’s current or former school names, mascots, or logos for commercial purposes, and directed Mauro to turn over any remaining items to the board. Mauro was also required to pay damages equivalent to the profits from the clothing sales, although her request for punitive damages was denied.
The ruling reaffirmed the school board’s authority under the Education Act to control the proprietary interests in its schools’ identifying artwork, extending to both current and former properties.
