France

[FR] Decision of the Court of Cassation about the Responsibility of a Sub-contractor of Technical Production of a Film

IRIS 1995-9:1/12

Laurence Giudicelli

Barrister, Paris Court of Appeal

In its decision of 4 July 1995, the Court of Cassation supported the first judges' rulings which had found against the sub-contractor entrusted with the technical production of copies of an advertising film concerning a loan, who had committed a serious fault in not checking if the correction of rates requested by the client was clearly indicated in the message transmitted. This serious fault cancels the liability limitation clause.

The case calls into question the responsibility of the Régie française de publicité (RFP) in the carrying out of its task, as a public administrative service, of exercising supervision through the afore-mentioned RFP of messages intended for broadcasting. This supervision is carried out by a delegation of the CNCL, an independent administrative authority (and predecessor of the Conseil supérieur de l' audiovisuel) entrusted by the Act of 30 September 1986 with the task of ensuring the principle of freedom of communication by the supervision of programming of advertising broadcasts.