Search results : 1132

The Information Society Bill (see IRIS 2001-5: 14) was adopted on 13 June 2001 by the Council of Ministers without any major changes. The Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel (the audiovisual regulatory authority - CSA) and the Commission national informatique et libertés (CNIL - National Commission for IT and Civil Liberties), both closely concerned with the subject, have given their opinions on the provisions of the Bill. The length of time during which connection data is retained for investigative purposes remains fixed by the Council of Ministers at a maximum of one year. This very controversial...

The dispute between the TPS satellite package and its pay-per-view channel Multivision, on the one hand, and its competitor Canal+ and its Kiosque channel (see IRIS 1999-2: 7; IRIS 1999-7: 8 and IRIS 2000-6: 7) is not over yet. At the beginning of the year, Multivision and TPS had again applied to the Conseil de la concurrence (National Council on Competition), claiming that Canal+ had concluded on 20 May 2000 a general agreement with certain organisations representing the French cinematographic industry. Multivision and TPS considered that the combined effects of the provisions of this agreement...

On 11 May 2001, Catherine Tasca, Minister for Culture and Communication, established the Conseil supérieur de la propriété littéraire et artistique (Higher Council for Literary and Artistic Property - CSPLA). This council has been set up for a six-year period and its position in regard to the minister should mean that it will be a mediation body for matters relating to intellectual property in the context of the development of the information society. Its members represent not only a number of ministries, but also all professionals concerned with the issues raised by the application of literary...

In a 1999 decision that has since become famous, the Court of Cassation upheld, on the basis of the law of ownership, the possibility for the owner of an item of property to oppose any commercial exploitation of that item, specifically by means of a photograph. A recent case has enabled the Regional Court in Paris to reach a similar decision. A company had produced and directed a pornographic film, distributed on video cassettes, in which a large part of the story took place inside the Paris hotel Le Crillon; various parts of the hotel were easily recognisable. The name of the hotel was mentioned...

Not many cases are taken in the French courts by film directors against their producers. A recent case has determined the rights of all concerned when the contract between them for the production of a film is terminated. Julien Seri was taken on as a director by the producer Luc Besson, and was subsequently dismissed during filming as his methods of working were considered unsatisfactory. Although he had participated in creating the screenplay and had filmed some of the scenes for the film, he was dismissed and replaced by a different director. Once this director had completed the film, and some...