Can I sue my school?

First of all, I live in Australia. That means the end of the school year for us is in December.

Around that time last year, a few weeks before end of school exams, I was suspended for ten days.

Why?

Because I uploaded a video onto the Internet of me at school. My art teacher was in it, and because I put him on YouTube without his permission, they suspended me, saying that was against the law.

Now I'm pretty sure it isn't against the law as it's the Internet... there are no rules stating that that is illegal, am I right? Look at Tom Green's online show... he doesn't have to blur out anyone's faces in public because he doesn't have to... it's not illegal.

Because I was suspended, I didn't get to study for my end of school exams, as it was impossible missing the most important final weeks of classes.

I got a bad OP (Like America's SAT score... I think) and I couldn't get into university.

Because of this, I got depression, wanted to kill myself (I have the doctors note) and stuff.

Now... can I sue my school and win?

I have no idea what Australia's privacy laws are like, so I can't comment on that. However, I can assure you that laws still apply to the internet.

In addition, schools can implement rules that are tighter than what the law holds to be legal or illegal. So if you broke one of those rules they are allowed to suspend you.

However, I have difficulty in accepting that you uploaded a video and they just immediately suspended you for that. Did they give you a warning? Ask you to take it down? If so, they're probably in the right.

Originally Posted by GDwarf

I have no idea what Australia's privacy laws are like, so I can't comment on that. However, I can assure you that laws still apply to the internet.

In addition, schools can implement rules that are tighter than what the law holds to be legal or illegal. So if you broke one of those rules they are allowed to suspend you.

However, I have difficulty in accepting that you uploaded a video and they just immediately suspended you for that. Did they give you a warning? Ask you to take it down? If so, they're probably in the right.

I took it down on the day I put it up.
I'm not kidding. It was only up for a few hours... I just wanted to show my friends what my school was like.
Some nerd came across it, and said to the teacher "Hey I saw you on YouTube!" or whatever, and yeah, they found out it was me.

There is no school rule about that... they said "it's the law, so of course you can't do it" but... it ISN'T the law...

Sorry that I sound like a jerk in this thread, you can understand how frustrated I am over this...

Students will get in trouble for bypasssing filters. I would not sue them, most schools have filters, my school does for excample. So my school we use lots of proxies. Deal with the fact that you got caught. If you did not know then tell your teacher that. Next time, if your going to do it. DON'T GET CAUGHT. Don't get caught and your be fine. They track the sites you go to but what can you do right? You can delete the log but you will have to go into the computer's hard drive, and get pass some restricted areas.

I don't think he uploaded the video from school, just uploaded a video about school.

I rather wish I knew more about Australian law.

However, was the video about the teacher, or did he just appear for a short time in it? If it's the former, then it probably is illegal. If it's the latter then it likely isn't.

Ah, an idea, did you show the school administration the video? Or are they just going on a 2nd hand account and assuming that it was a video of the teacher only?

I'm afraid this is utterly illegal, you definitely need permission of the individual who is also in the video. We tend to call this concept the "portretrecht", as it were in Dutch. I'm sorry, at the moment, I can't find the correct english term.

I'm also relatively sure you can't sue your school for this. Unless, you haven't received any information about the "portretrecht" yet, then you have a potential reason, I say.

It can't be illegal though... it just can't.

Tom Green done a whole 90 minute walk through his town... passing by people... one guy even said "don't film me!" but they did anyway... even though it was just for two seconds, but it's okay because... just that, it's okay.

Well... GDwarf, the video was about him... I honestly thought he knew he was being filmed though, he saw the camera, but he said he thought it was a "photo" camera... which it was, but it films too. It went for less than 60 seconds...

(Note: I'm not gay... not that there's anything wrong with that. I only filmed him because he's such a funny teacher... lol)

Another thing I forgot to mention, the school asked my for my username and password, logged into my YouTube account, and went through everything. My friend said THAT was an invasion of privacy and was illegal.

Oh yeah, and I did upload the video from home.

Honestly? None of us have ever been to law school, much less one in Australia, so we can't really help you.

If you're seriously considering taking legal action the first thing you should do is go to your school with one of your parents have a talk with the teachers involved, organize what you want to say beforehand, then lay it on them. If you can't resolve the issue between yourselves, then maybe you could talk to a solicitor.

Although if it was me I'd steer clear of that all together, and just keep taking it further up the education board so you could perhaps come to an agreement and be entered for exams the following year and make it to university. If you sue it's going to be a lot of effort, it will interrupt everyone, and in the end you won't really benefit anyway.

I'd give an opinion but like someone else stated, I have no idea about Australia's privacy laws.

You shouldn't have gotten suspended without prior warnings. We were able to send out emails from "Administration" and mess around with teacher's laptops without their knowledge, and didn't get suspended.
If your low OP was the direct result of your suspension, or you can prove your depression is solely the fault of the school, then you may be able to sue.

Okay... thanks for your help everyone. I'm pretty sure I'll be taking action after I talk to a solicitor and junk; unless anyone here studies or has studied Australian law (I'll come back to the thread).

I know you might think I'm a jerk for suing people, but... it's a school. A private school. Nobody likes school!

I don't know who Tom Green (is that the guy from Freddie got Fingered?) is, but I'm pretty sure that if you're video taping somebody then you do need to get their permission before you can distribute the footage - especially if you're profiting from it in some way.

Obviously you're not profiting from the video that you made, but I do think that people have a right to object to their image being put out there like that.

However, whether they were justified or not in suspending you, why are you suing them? How will receiving a cash sum help your situation in anyway? If you had to pay fees for treatment of depression then I could understand, but taking money from the school isn't going to turn back the clock, and in the end it'll probably just affect students more than the people who're responsible for suspending you.

Originally Posted by Sloths Rule

First of all, I live in Australia. That means the end of the school year for us is in December.

Around that time last year, a few weeks before end of school exams, I was suspended for ten days.

Why?

Because I uploaded a video onto the Internet of me at school. My art teacher was in it, and because I put him on YouTube without his permission, they suspended me, saying that was against the law.

Now I'm pretty sure it isn't against the law as it's the Internet... there are no rules stating that that is illegal, am I right? Look at Tom Green's online show... he doesn't have to blur out anyone's faces in public because he doesn't have to... it's not illegal.

Because I was suspended, I didn't get to study for my end of school exams, as it was impossible missing the most important final weeks of classes.

I got a bad OP (Like America's SAT score... I think) and I couldn't get into university.

Because of this, I got depression, wanted to kill myself (I have the doctors note) and stuff.

Now... can I sue my school and win?

Not sure how it works in australia but if you used someones image without their permission and made money from it (not that you did) then it'd be illegal. Is their argument with the fact you uploaded a video from your school or the fact the video was of your school?

Most suspensions are too do with breaching school rules and unless they actually have it written not to use any imagery of the school in videos then they have no right to suspend you.

the Laws are probably different in Australia, but someone in my school went through the same thing.

He was suspended during GCSE season and never got a grade, him and his parents sued the school, but they lost...

Bear in mind, he beat the crap out of a younger kid, so his offence is not minor as yours is...
That reason seems petty, they could have just asked you to remove the video, not suspend you...thats just pathetic

I'd honestly advise talking it over with a school administrator (I should've said this to start with really), but make sure you have a parent along when you do so. Some principles refuse to listen to students and you need a parent to get them to pay attention.

If I take a photo of a concert, or building, and there are people in the image -- and I post that on the internet, that's certainly not illegal -- is it?


^Would you look at all those laws I'm breaking?

Seriously -- unless your school has a policy on filming, or Australian laws are vastly different -- I believe you are quite within your rights. Find out stuff yourself about the laws and what rights you have, and take it to the top in a polite and serious manner.

Don't sue them, it's not nice -- especially if you intend to continue to go there. Just make the Headmistress very, very unhappy. Or better still -- make her entirely apologetic and maybe your life will become easier.

But first, know your rights -- and the school's policies.

Originally Posted by Sloths Rule

First of all, I live in Australia. That means the end of the school year for us is in December.

Around that time last year, a few weeks before end of school exams, I was suspended for ten days.

Why?

Because I uploaded a video onto the Internet of me at school. My art teacher was in it, and because I put him on YouTube without his permission, they suspended me, saying that was against the law.

Now I'm pretty sure it isn't against the law as it's the Internet... there are no rules stating that that is illegal, am I right? Look at Tom Green's online show... he doesn't have to blur out anyone's faces in public because he doesn't have to... it's not illegal.

Because I was suspended, I didn't get to study for my end of school exams, as it was impossible missing the most important final weeks of classes.

I got a bad OP (Like America's SAT score... I think) and I couldn't get into university.

Because of this, I got depression, wanted to kill myself (I have the doctors note) and stuff.

Now... can I sue my school and win?

Actually, it IS illegal, and therefore you have NO right to sue your arts teacher, or your school: but, most people have no problem if their face is barely visable in the background, and in most cases even close up, but nonetheless, they have the right to suspend you. ALTHOUGH: the time of your suspension in unacceptable. You CAN ask them to offer you a week or so of study-time to retake the test, if you present the evidence. Or... well, you could take THAT to court.