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In a decision handed down on 29 June 2012, the Conseil d’Etat (France’s highest administrative jurisdiction) has cancelled for a second time the rating certificate for Lars von Trier’s film Antichrist, which prohibited showing it to anyone under 16 years of age. In France, the showing of films in cinema theatres is subject to obtaining a rating certificate (visa d'exploitation) from the Minister for Culture, on the opinion of the Film Rating Board (Commission de Classification des Oeuvres Cinématographiques). The Board may issue a certificate authorising the showing of a film to any audience, a...

The face-off involving the two rival channels Edonys and Deovino, both of which focus on the culture, practices and art of wine, has finally reached a conclusion. In its decision of 11 July 2012, the Conseil d’Etat (France’s highest administrative jurisdiction), to which the matter had been referred by the company Media Place Partners (Edonys), pronounced the cancellation of the convention that the audiovisual regulatory authority (Conseil Supérieur de l’Audiovisuel - CSA) had agreed with Deovino. Edonys (“the international vine and wine channel”) had already referred the matter to the Conseil...

After the French Competition Authority (Autorité de la Concurrence) in July 2012 (see IRIS 2012-8/26), it has been the turn of the audiovisual regulatory authority (Conseil Supérieur de l’Audiovisuel - CSA) to authorise - “subject to conditions” and “in the light of the undertakings subscribed to by Canal Plus” - the latter’s purchase of the channels Direct 8 and Direct Star. This closes the long round of negotiations between the French pay television giant and the independent administrative authorities, which wanted above all to prevent the group from being able to disturb the balance of the market...

In a decision handed down on 12 September 2012, the court of appeal in Paris overturned the judgment that had found ALJ Productions, a production company owned by Alexia Laroche Joubert, guilty of unfair competition in respect of her previous employer, Endemol. Endemol is the exclusive international distributor of the Big Brother reality TV programme format, and in France it operates the programmes Loft Story and Secret Story. It felt that the programme Dilemme, produced by ALJ Productions and broadcast between May and July 2010 on the W9 channel, made deliberate use of the essential characteristics,...

Once again the European Court has emphasised the importance of the protection of journalists’ sources, this time in a case concerning searches and seizures carried out at the French sporting daily L'Equipe, the weekly magazine Le Point and at the homes of some of their journalists. This judgment comes only a few months after the judgment of the European Court found a violation of Article 10 of the European Convention by the French authorities for disrespecting the protection of journalists’ sources (ECtHR 12 April 2012, Martin and Others v. France, Appl. Nr. 30002/08). The case...