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In a decision of 2 October 2013, the Court of Cassation delivered a noteworthy decision recalling the party on which the burden of proof falls in cases of infringement of copyright. In the case at issue, the author of a novel claimed that several episodes of the television series Plus Belle la Vie broadcast in the summer of 2009 and the spring of 2010 on the channel France 3 used the theme, plot and main characters of his work. He therefore instigated proceedings for infringement of copyright against the company France Télévisions, in its capacity as the broadcaster, and the production companies...

On 16 October 2013, the General Court of the European Union validated the funding mechanism for France Télévisions set up by 2009 legislation reforming the public-sector audiovisual scene to compensate for the abolition of advertising on the public-sector group’s channels after 8 pm. The compensation took the form of an annual budget subsidy and two taxes, one on advertising spots, and the other on electronic communications. In a decision on 20 July 2010, the European Commission found that the State aid in the form of a budget subsidy for France Télévisions was compatible with the requirements...

On 3 October 2013, the Court of Justice gave a preliminary ruling in the Case of Peter Pinckney v. KDG Mediatech AG, C-170/12, regarding the jurisdictional rules set out in the Council Regulation (EC) No. 44/2001. Mr Pinckney claimed to be the author of 12 songs which were recorded by the group Aubrey Small on a vinyl record. The record was then, without his consent, reproduced on compact discs by an Austrian company named Mediatech, which were subsequently sold by companies in the United Kingdom on their website. This website was accessible from Toulouse, France, where Mr Pinckney lived. He sued...

On 6 September 2013, the Conseil d’Etat, deliberating under the urgent procedure, partly suspended implementation of the order issued by the Ministry of Labour on 1 July that extended the national collective agreement for the cinema industry signed in January 2012 by the unions of employees and the association of independent producers (Association des Producteurs Indépendants - API, whose members are Gaumont, Pathé, UGC, and MK2). According to the decree, the agreement, which determines the remuneration to be paid to workers and technicians in the cinema industry (feature films and publicity films),...

In 2010, the commission for the classification of cinematographic works proposed banning under-16-year-olds from watching the film Saw 3D Chapitre Final, the final chapter in a series of successful horror films, with the warning that the film “includes a large number of particularly realistic torture scenes and a high level of brutality, indeed even savagery”. Following this proposition, and in application of Article 3 of the Decree of 23 February 1990, the Minister for Culture and Communication granted the film a screening certificate on condition that it was not to be shown to anyone under the...