Search results : 1115

On 9 January 1996 the Court of Cassation delivered its judgment on the appeal by the Masson publishing house against a judgment delivered by the Paris Court of Appeal on 7 July 1992. According to the judgment of the Court of Cassation, it follows from Art. L.131-4 that the author's share of the proceeds of a publication must be calculated exclusively on the basis of sale price. This gives the provision a "caractère d'ordre public", ie the provision is therefore mandatory and cannot be departed from by agreement between the parties. The Court of Cassation concluded from this that an author could...

On 10 April 1996 legislation on the information superhighway was adopted in France. We reported on the corresponding bill in IRIS 1996-3 : 4. The Act is intended to encourage the development of telecommunication services and audio-visual communication. To achieve this, according to the allowances made in the Act experimental projects, limited as regards both space and time, may now be authorised. Approval is conditional on the experimental project being of public interest. Public interest depends on the novelty of the project, its economic and technical feasibility, its effect on the development...

The April issue of the German monthly magazine INFOSAT reports that the French pay-TV broadcaster Canal+ has acquired the broadcasting rights of the soccer games to be played in the Ligue National de Football (LNF) in the next Canal+ five years. The games will be broadcast in 's digital satellite service. To receive them, viewers will need to invest in a satellite dish and a digital decoder. In addition, they will have to pay FF 50 for each game they want to view. The agreement between Canal+ and the French Football Union would stipulate that Canal+ will broadcast one game live in analogue format...

On 29 November 1995, the Paris Regional Court gave judgment on the legitimate interest in bringing proceedings of TV Carton Jaune , an association working to ensure the accuracy of television news coverage. The association claimed that the channel TF1 and one of its journalists had failed in their duty of informing viewers honestly and accurately, and brought proceedings against them under the general liability provision of Article 1382 of the Civil Code ( see: IRIS 1995-7:13). On 18 February, TF1 had reported that a shell which had hit the market in Sarajevo had been fired from the Bosnian, and...

The Information Superhighways Bill passed the National Assembly on a first reading on 30 January 1996. It merely provides a legal basis for experimental projects, limited to certain areas and running for specified periods, and carried out "principally for the purpose of establishing whether there is a genuine demand for new services and technologies, and whether that demand can be met". More radical changes will be discussed when the new telecommunications regulations come up for debate in the spring. Existing French law is proving inadequate, and the distinction which it makes between telecommunications...