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The system of “graduated sanctions” against users and suppliers of peer-to-peer networks, proposed by the Government and adopted by Parliament as part of the DADVSI Act, but later set aside by the Constitutional Council in July 2006 (see IRIS 2006-8: 13), have nevertheless returned. On 3 January 2007 the Minister of Justice sent a circular to principal state prosecutors and magistrates “presenting and commenting on the criminal provisions of the Act of 1 August 2006 on copyright and neighbouring rights in the information society”, concerning in particular the circumvention of protective measures...

The Court of Appeal in Paris has just delivered a judgment that illustrates just how difficult it is to appreciate whether or not the concept of a television programme has been used by a competitor, and how necessary it is to be subjective. In the case at issue, two journalists had created a concept for a programme entitled Crise en direct , consisting of a prospective political news magazine. After filing it with the SACD (Society of Dramatic Authors and Composers, a collecting society), they submitted their project to a number of production companies and broadcasters, including Canal+. Some months...

On 8 November 2007, the Minister for Culture and Communication and the Minister with responsibility for the promotion of equal opportunities presented a communication to the Council of Ministers concerning the establishment of an “Images of Diversity” fund. The fund, to be managed by the national agency for social cohesion (Agence nationale pour la cohésion sociale - ACSE) and the national cinematographic centre (Centre national de la cinématographie - CNC), is intended to support the creation of cinematographic and audiovisual works dealing with diversity in France and equal opportunities. The...

On 31 January 2007, following on from the Senate decision last November (see IRIS 2007-1: 10), the National Assembly adopted the bill on the television of the future, to which the Government had applied the urgent procedure (one single reading in each House). However, only the UMP group, which has an absolute majority in the Assembly, voted in its favour. The Act creates the necessary legal framework allowing, from March 2008, the discontinuation of analogue signals in favour of digital broadcasting, with the changeover to be completed by 30 November 2011. Despite vigorous protests from the independent...

On 30 January, the court of cassation delivered a judgment, one that was both anticipated and noteworthy, concerning the conditions under which a sequel to a work may or may not be produced. In the case at issue, the dispute was between an heir of Victor Hugo and the author of two novels presented as “sequels” to Victor Hugo’s work Les Misérables. In France, the moral right - unlike pecuniary rights which lapse 70 years after the death of the author - is “perpetual, inalienable and not subject to limitation in terms of time. On the author’s death it is transmitted to the author’s heirs” (Art. L....