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Advertising on French television is restricted by law to a certain number of minutes per hour, averaged out over the day, with a ceiling for any given hour. Advertising must be broadcast within special, clearly marked slots. The CSA has, however, noticed that over the past few months, television channels have been broadcasting more and more commercial-like messages during the actual programmes themselves. The Authority has therefore sent a letter round the broadcasters, in which it stresses the conditions of application of the law as it currently stands, while stating that programmes could nevertheless...

The Tribunal de Grande Instance (District Court) of Draguignan has made an important ruling on the topical question of the conflict between a trade mark and an internet domain name. The town of Saint-Tropez, the holder of the Saint-Tropez brand, noticed that a French company, Eurovirtuel, who had set up an internet site for the town at the address www.NOVA.fr/saint-tropez, was operating its own site at www.saint-tropez.com. The town consequently referred the matter to the court of Draguignan, thus giving the court the chance to define this new form of infringement of rights. Eurovirtuel address...

The summary order injunction, delivered by the Tribunal de Grande Instance of Paris (Paris District Court) on 5 May 1997 confirmed that unauthorised digitisation is illegal and constitutes an infringement of rights. However, digitalisation of this kind may escape being penalised under infringement laws when it is done for strictly personal use in the conditions laid out in article L-122-5-2 of the Intellectual Property Code or when it comes under the exceptional provision called "short quotes". In this particular case, the court noted that the original work of Raymond Queneau had been digitilised...

Should you have to pay to use a radio-electric frequency? Until now the question has been left unanswered in France. Since the Decree of 22 May 1997 on the fee payable by licensees of radio-electric frequencies, an annual fee must be paid for "access and management" of the frequencies. It will be for the national frequencies agency (Agence Nationale des Fréquences - ANF) to determine the amount of the fee payable by each licensee and to issue the corresponding demands for payment. Are all users of frequencies subject to the provisions of the Decree of 22 May 1997? No; the Decree contains one very...

The association AGRIF (general alliance against racism and for the respect of the French and Christian identity), after attempting without success some years ago to have Jean-Luc Godard's film "Je vous salue Marie" ("Hail Mary") banned from general release, recently petitioned the judge for urgent matters to ban its broadcast on the Arte channel at 11.30 pm. The applicants maintained that broadcasting of the film was likely to hurt the members of the association in their beliefs and in their feelings, but also to disturb many viewers who respected spiritual values. In support of its petition, the...