Copyright & Media in France
Copyright and Media in France |
European Court of Justice: the Functionality of a Computer Program and the Programming Language Are Not Protected by Copyright
European Court of Justice, 2 May 2012, Case C?406/10 SAS Institute Inc. developed the SAS System: an integrated set of programs which enables users to carry out data processing and analysis tasks such as statistics. SAS Institute Inc. brought a copyright infringement case against World Programming LTD (WPL), which had lawfully acquired a licence for the SAS System in order to study and observe the SAS System and create alternative software capable of executing application programs with globally the same functionalities. However, WPL did not have access to the source code of the SAS System,
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?Google Suggest": Google Condemned for Its Keyword Suggestion System
High Court of First Instance of Paris, Chamber 17, 15 February 2012, Kriss Laure c. Google Inc. and Larry P., www.legalis.comSince 2009, Google has been condemned several times by the French Courts in defamation and insult cases relating to its ?Google Suggest" system. For instance, in a decision of 14 December 2011, the Court of Appeal of Paris condemned Google Inc and its director of publication for an insult that was generated by Google?s keyword suggestion system. The court considered that associating the term ?crook" and the corporate name of a company is public abuse on the part of
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The French Supreme Court Rules That eBay is Not a Hosting Provider
French Supreme Court, 3 May 2012eBay Inc., eBay International / LVMH, Parfums Christian DiorThe Commercial Chamber of the French Supreme Court (?Cour de Cassation"), in three decisions rendered on the same day, ruled that ?the eBay companies did not carry out a mere hosting activity but played, irrespective of any option taken by the sellers, an active role that gave them the knowledge of or control over the data that they stock, which does not allow them to benefit from the limitation of liability system provided by section 6.1.2 of the 21 June 2004 Act and section 14 § 1 of the 2000/31
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The French Data Protection Authority Questions Google On Its Privacy Policy
The French data protection authority, the CNIL (Commission Nationale de l'Informatique et des Libertés), was invited by the Article 29 Working Party (which brings together all the data protection authorities of the European Union) to take the lead in the analysis of Google's new privacy policy, that took effect on 1 March 2012.On 16 March 2012, the CNIL sent Google a detailed questionnaire on its new confidentiality rules.In its questionnaire, the CNIL asks Google 69 questions that are meant to clarify the implications the new confidentiality rules will have on the users of Google, whether th
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Facebook's Jurisdictional Clause is Null: the French Courts Have Jurisdiction
Court of Appeal of Pau, 23 March 2012, www.legalis.comA French user, who considered that Facebook had wrongly closed its Facebook account, brought a case against Facebook before the Civil Court of Bayonne for small cases ("Juridiction de Proximité"), claiming ?1500 in damages.Facebook Inc argued that its general terms and conditions provide that the courts of California entertain exclusive jurisdiction, and that the French courts therefore do not have jurisdiction. In a judgement of 18 October 2011, the Civil Court of Bayonne ruled that indeed, following Facebook's argument, it did not have
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Ebay v Hermès: Ebay Liable For Trade Mark Infringement
Court of Appeal of Reims, 20 July 2010, www.legalis.netHosting providers (e.g. YouTube) enjoy a limitation of liability system, under the Directive on Electronic Commerce and the French Act on Confidence in the Digital Economy of June 21, 2004 (Loi pour la Confiance dans l?Economie Numérique, ?LCEN?). However, the Court of Appeal of Reims, in a decision of 20 July 2010, considered that Ebay acts as a ?publisher of services?, and not a mere hosting provider with solely a technical and passive role, because in the present case it incited users to buy other products, in particular in a
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Ebay v Hermès: Ebay condamnée pour contrefaçon de marque
Cour d?Appel de Reims, 20 juillet 2010, www.legalis.netLes prestataires d?hébergement, tels que YouTube par exemple, bénéficient d?un régime de limitation de responsabilité, en application de la Directive sur le commerce électronique et la Loi sur Confiance dans l?Economie Numérique du 21 juin 2004 (dite loi LCEN).La Cour d?appel de Reims a toutefois estimé, dans un arrêt du 20 juillet 2010, qu?Ebay agit comme un éditeur de services, et non comme un simple prestataire d?hébergement ayant un rôle uniquement technique et passif, lorsque le site incite ses utilisateurs
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The Long Lasting Exclusivity in Recording Agreements
Cour de cassation (1st Civil Chamber), 11 February 2010, RDLI n° 61, S. Pessina DassonvilleThe radio broadcaster Europe 1 had made live recordings of the late French artists Barbara and Joe Dassin for a show. At the time of the recordings, the artists were bound by exclusive recording agreements (with Universal Music and Sony BMG), which provided that they were not allowed to record with any other record producer during the term of the agreement.Therefore, except if otherwise provided for by contract (with the record producers), Europe 1 could only have non-exclusive right limited to the prim
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La portée de l?exclusivité dans les contrats d?artistes
Cour de cassation (1re chambre civile), 11 Février 2010, RDLI n° 61, S. Pessina DassonvilleLe radiodiffuseur Europe 1 avait réalisé, il y a de nombreuses années, des enregistrements live des artistes Barbara et Joe Dassin aujourd?hui décédés, pour une de ces émissions. Les artistes étaient, à l?époque des enregistrements, liés par des contrats d?enregistrement exclusif (avec Universal Music et Sony BMG), aux termes desquels ils s?interdisaient de procéder à tout autre enregistrement pendant la durée du contrat.Par conséquent, à défaut de clause contraire, Europe 1 ne
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Contrôle de la CNIL dans les locaux de l?entreprise : information préalable
Conseil d'Etat, 6 novembre 2009, n° 304300 et 304301Avec le développement de l?informatique et des réseaux, toutes les entreprises sont amenées à mettre en ?uvre des traitements de données personnelles (gestion de clients, prospection commerciale, gestion des salariés, etc.).Ces traitements de données personnelles doivent respecter les règles imposées par la loi informatique et liberté de 1978 (modifiée par la loi du 6 août 2004), et la CNIL a le pouvoir d?effectuer des contrôles sur place auprès des responsables des traitements.La décision de procéder à une mission de c
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Whistle-blowing: The Sarbanes-Oxley Act in France
The CNIL (the French data controller ? La Commission Nationale de l?Informatique et des Libertés) defines a ?whistle-blowing device? as a system put at the disposal of the employees of a public or a private body in addition to the normal ways of alerting the malfunctioning of the body, in order to incite them to signal to their employer any behaviour that they consider violates the applicable rules. The CNIL admitted the use of whistle-blowing in order to enable French companies to comply with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 30 July 2002, which imposes the implementation of whistle-blowing
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Alertes professionnelles : la position restrictive de la Cour de cassation
Cass. soc., 8 déc. 2009, n° 08-17.191La Commission Nationale de l?Informatique et des Libertés (CNIL) définit le dispositif d?alerte professionnelle comme un système mis à la disposition des employés d'un organisme public ou privé pour les inciter, en complément des modes normaux d'alerte sur les dysfonctionnements de l'organisme, à signaler à leur employeur des comportements qu'ils estiment contraires aux règles applicables et pour organiser la vérification de l'alerte ainsi recueillie au sein de l'organisme concerné. La CNIL a admis le principe de l?alerte professionnelle
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Hotels Subjected To Pay Fees To The Music Collecting Society SACEM
Cour de cassation, 1st Civil Chamber, January 14, 2010, n° 08-16.022In a decision rendered on 14 January 2010, the French Supreme Court (Cour de cassation) upheld the ruling condemning a hotel to the payment of copyright fees due for broadcasting audiovisual programmes containing musical works from the repertoire of the collecting body SACEM.The Court indeed considered that even though the clients of the hotel occupy individual rooms, they constitute the public according to the meaning of Section L.122-2 of the French Intellectual Property Code, as construed in the light of the 2001/29/CE Dir
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Les hôtels sont soumis au paiement de redevances à la SACEM
Cass. 1re civ., 14 janv. 2010, n° 08-16.022Dans un arrêt du 14 janvier 2010, la Cour de cassation confirme la condamnation d?une société exploitant un hôtel au paiement de redevances de droits d?auteur dues au titre de la diffusion de programmes audiovisuels contenant des ?uvres musicales relevant du répertoire de la SACEM.La Cour estime en effet que les clients de l'hôtel, bien qu'occupant les chambres individuelles à titre privé, constituaient un public, au sens de l'article L. 122-2 du Code de la propriété intellectuelle tel qu'interprété à la lumière de la directive de
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A Draft Bill On Online Gambling
Official Journal AN, n° 348, 13 October 2009; Lamyline Reflex, L. CostesOn 13 October 2009, the French Deputies voted a draft bill on ?competition and regulation in the field of oneline games played for money and games of chance?.The aim of the Government is to control online gambling, which is currently illegal, but is in fact widespread. The ARJEL will be created (Authority for the regulation of online gambling), an independent agency in charge of granting licenses to the operators of online games.In return for this renewable license, the websites will have to comply with specifications
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A Decree Sets Out The 9 French Courts Specialised In Intellectual Property
www.legalis.netThe Directive 2004/48/EC on the enforcement of intellectual property rights was implemented in French law by the Law of 29 October 2007 on the fight against infringement and by the Law of 4 August 2008 on the modernisation of the economy. The aim of these acts is in particular to reinforce the body of law protecting intellectual property creations, to create a right to information for intellectual property owners and to reinforce provisional and precautionary measures.The new law provides for a limited number of courts to specialise in the enforcement of intellectual property: l
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YouTube Is A Hosting Provider, Not A Publisher
High Court of First Instance of Paris (3rd Chamber), 22 September 2009, ADAMI c/ Société YouTube, RLDI 2009/53, L. CostesThe High Court of First Instance of Paris ruled that YouTube is a hosting provider under the French Act of 21 June 2004 on Confidence in the Digital Environment, and not a publisher.The claimants, a comic double act, brought a copyright infringement case against YouTube after discovering that some of their videos were reproduced on YouTube?s website.The Court rejected the claim, considering that no legal text excludes the qualification of hosting provider where a provide
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The Music Website Radioblog Condemned To Pay Over 1 Million Euros In Damages
High Court of First Instance of Paris (31st Chamber), 3 September 2009, SCPP c/ J.-L. and B. T., www.legalis.netThe High Court of First Instance of Paris has condemned the music website Radioblof.fr for putting at the disposal of the public, on its site, links to recordings, and for permitting its visitors to export the play lists that they had created.The Court considered that the owners of the site had, by so doing, infringed on the rights of the record producers, and that they had illegally published illegally software manifestly aimed at putting unauthorised protected works at the disposal
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The French Personal Data Protection Law Confronted With The US Discovery Procedures
The CNIL, the French personal data controller, explains on its website that it ?has found that a growing number of motions are being filed, requiring the disclosure of personal data held, among other, by French subsidiaries of US corporations subject to pre-trial discovery procedures in US litigation cases. It has become frequent to see companies or their foreign subsidiaries forced to turn over copies of the full contents of the hard disks or e-mail boxes of some employees, or even the entire personnel?.For the whole presentation: www.cnil.fr/english/news-and-events/discovery-case/BRAD SP
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Advertising for Alcohol Authorised on the Internet in France
Draft Bill No 1210 of the French ParliamentThe French deputies adopted a draft bill authorising advertising on the Internet, with certain limitations.For the time being, the Public Health Code does not allow advertisement for alcohol on a website. Indeed, Article L.3323-2 sets out a restrictive list of types of media on which publicity for alcohol is permitted. In particular, advertising may be carried out in the written press (except for the press intended for youth), through sound broadcasting (a decree sets the radio stations that are authorized to broadcast and at what time), by way of pos
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