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The European Commission has recently approved a financing scheme involving state aid for The Chaîne Française d'information internationale (French Channel for International News - FCII). In making the decision, the Commission observed that the EC Treaty rules on state aid (Article 87) were being complied with. These rules prohibit the granting of aid or subsidies which distorts or threatens to distort competition within the EU single market. However, as an exception to these rules, the treaty allows state aid for the operation of services of general economic interest, provided the aid does not...

On 10 May, the Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel (audiovisual regulatory authority -CSA) sent official notice to the channel Canal + after it had broadcast a sequence referring to the election of the new Pope, Benedict XVI, on 20 April in its humoristic, satirical programme Les Guignols de l'Info, referring to the new Pope's childhood in Germany and his enrolment in the Hitler youth movement. In the disputed sequence, which began with a banner on the screen bearing the words "Adolf II", the puppet representing the new Pope blessed the faithful "in the name of the Father, the Son and the Third...

Clown fish can sometimes be real sharks! That seems to be the only conclusion to be drawn from the lawsuit brought by the French company publishing an illustrated children's book entitled Pierrot le poisson clown (Pierrot the clown fish) against the companies Walt Disney, Pixar and Disney Hachette Edition. The former, claiming copyright in respect of its book and ownership of the semi-figurative trade name Pierrot le poisson clown, brought its case against the latter under the urgent procedure and then on the merits of the case when the film Finding Nemo came out. The Regional Court of Paris, deliberating...

In a much-noted decision adopted on 27 April, the Court of Appeal in Paris deliberated on the legality of using technical means to prevent the copying of protected works (anti-copying device on a digital medium) in view of the private copy exception. The original case had been brought by a private individual, backed by a consumer group, who complained that he had not been able to make a video copy of the DVD of the film Mulholland Drive because the digital medium included technical protective devices that were not clearly indicated on the box. In support of their case, the applicants claimed that...

The European Commission has formally closed procedures under EC Treaty State aid rules (article 88) probing into the financing mechanisms of public service broadcasters in three Member States. Italy, France and Spain have been the object of the Commission's scrutiny since the end of 2003. Its main concern was to ensure that no market distortion could arise from state aid granted to national broadcasters entrusted with the fulfilment of a public service mission. In its 2001 Communication on applying state aid rules to public service broadcasting, the Commission has clarified both what is to be defined...