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In line with the industrial tribunal and the court of appeal of Paris (see IRIS 2008-4: 13), the social section of the court of cassation delivered a noteworthy decision on 3 June 2009 upholding the claim brought by three participants in the reality television programme “l’Ile de la Tentation” for the “participant regulations” they had signed to be reclassified as an employment contract. The programme consists of “filming the day-to-day lives of couples on an island paradise in order to test the strength of their love“. The programme’s production company referred to the clauses in the documents...

The national rules applicable to television advertising, sponsorship on television, and teleshopping have been relaxed with the transposition of the “Audiovisual Media Services” Directive of 11 December 2007 into French law. Thus, although the Act of 5 March 2009 (see IRIS 2009-4: 10) put an end to the broadcasting of advertising on the France Télévisions channels, it nevertheless authorised the private channels, other than cinema channels, to include an extra commercial break in audiovisual and cinematographic works (Article 73). This second break, which previously the CSA had allowed only during...

The court of appeal of Paris has overturned the very recent judgment by the commercial court which found Orange guilty of tied sale practices and unfair competition in its dispute with its competitors Free and SFR (see IRIS 2009-4: 9). The latter complained that the operator, which had spent EUR 203 million on buying exclusive broadcasting rights for premier league football matches between 2008 and 2011, was making subscription to its channel Orange Sports which was broadcasting the matches dependent on taking out a subscription to Orange’s broadband Internet access. Having been ordered in the...

On 6 May 2009 the court of appeal in Paris delivered a notable decision on the first dispute to be submitted to the French courts on the liability of video-sharing platforms. The director and the producer of the film “Joyeux Noël” claimed that the company Dailymotion allowed the film to be viewed using streaming technology despite having been sent formal notice to withdraw the film. The regional court of Paris had found in favour of the rightsholders on 13 July 2007 and held the company Dailymotion, categorised as a host service provider, guilty of infringement of copyright in respect of the film...

More often than one might expect, basic issues concerning music rights are unknown territory for producers of music works, film composers and musicians. Reading this IRIS plus is a first step towards understanding the complex legal matter. The article starts by explaining the legal position of the film composer, which comprises the questions of who holds copyrights, for how long and what kind. It thereafter focuses on issues around licensing and remuneration including the role of collecting societies. The article then looks at various aspects of piracy: a major concern for the audiovisual industry....