French Copyright Law (droit d’auteur)

In France, the literary and artistic property Law, a branch of intellectual property law, is composed of two categories: copyright and rights related to copyright. The term “droit d’auteur” reveals that the interests of the author (auteur) are at the center of the French system, unlike countries that have adopted the Anglo-Saxon conception of “copyright”.

Copyright is the set of legal prerogatives that the creator has over his work, provided that it fulfills a single condition: originality in form. The author enjoys an absolute monopoly on his work, from its creation if one can detect in it the imprint of his personality. This prerogative allows the author to authorize or prohibit any reproduction or representation of his work. It must go beyond the stage of banality or the simple idea to deserve protection, whatever else its artistic value. Protection by copyright, in its patrimonial slope, lapses seventy years after the death of its author, then falling into the public domain.

The neighboring rights to copyright have been enshrined in French legislation in 1985 and incorporated into the Code of Intellectual Property. These are the rights granted to persons who can not claim authorship but who nevertheless play an essential role in the realization of a work and in its communication to the public. These include performers, producers of phonograms and videograms and audiovisual communication undertakings.

Thus, for example a singer holds rights on his interpretation of a song. The holders of these rights have an action for damages when a third party copies their creations: the action for infringement. It allows them to apply to the courts for the cessation of acts of infringement and for compensation for the damage suffered by such unauthorized exploitation.

Only certain courts of first instance in France are competent to deal with literary and artistic property matters, as well as all intellectual property cases, the assistance of the lawyer is compulsory.