3.3 Are there any laws that restrict the conditions of licence that the parties can accept (except in the cases mentioned in questions 3.4 to 3.6)? Any work of mind created by an author may be protected by copyright, regardless of its nature, expression, merit or purpose (Articles L111-1 and L112-2 of the Intellectual Property Code – CPI). The IPC and the Berne Convention refer to a non-exhaustive list of works protected by copyright. In accordance with the Berne Convention, authors may enjoy intellectual property rights in their work solely by virtue of its creation, without the need for a copyright notice or registration. 1.6 What is the term of copyright protection? Does it vary depending on the type of work? In 1866, the France issued a copyright lifespan of + 50 years for most works. 1. In January 1986, the duration of the musical compositions was increased to Life + 70 years. On 1 July 1995, the term of protection of most works for life + 70 years was increased (in harmony with the rest of the European Union). There are no special provisions for works or government laws: copyright usually belongs to the respective public body. 1.7 Is there an overlap between copyright and other intellectual property rights such as design rights and database rights? Copyright or copyright in France, Belgium, Romania or Germany grants (subject to certain exceptions) to natural persons (authors and heirs) the use of the right and denies it to legal persons (with the exception of collective works and software), while related rights grant rights to the publisher or producer.

Copyright and related rights are copyrights within the meaning of English or American law. [19] Is there a central copyright authority? What does this agency do? A judgment of the Court of Cassation of October 2011 confirmed the decision of the Court of Appeal according to which a rather artistic image of two fish on a yellow plate around a traditional Marseille meal could not be protected by French law due to a lack of originality. [23] According to this decision, the level of originality required by this Court of Appeal is very high. This decision has been criticized, but the French Supreme Court does not control the facts, but only the interpretation of the law. In 2017, copyright protection was restored for this image of Jimi Hendrix after a court initially denied protection. The concept of “copyright,” which differs from Anglo-American copyright law, has its roots in the practice of printing patents and royal privileges that emerged in the 16th century and became common in the 17th century. [3] The privilege concerned the publication rights in the authors` works and not the copyrights themselves. Henry II received the first privilege granted in France in 1551 to his lutenist Guillaume de Morlaye. [3] Through this system of royal privileges, the king granted monopolies to certain publishers and introduced a system of censorship. [3] The privileges were then very short (3 to 10 years), after which the work fell into the public domain. [3] The Moulins Ordinance of 1566, the first law requiring librarians and publishers to apply for a printing patent, does not mention authors. [3] Copyright (or French copyright) developed in the 18th century.

This is the same era as copyright law in the UK. Based on “copyright” instead of “copyright”, its philosophy and terminology differ from those used in copyright in common law jurisdictions. It has played a very important role in the development of copyright in other civil jurisdictions and in the development of international copyright legislation such as the Berne Convention. Law No. 2016-1321 provides for a new exception to copyright infringement, allowing individuals to reproduce or exhibit architectural works and sculptures permanently located in public places for non-commercial purposes. 7.2 Are there any particularly important issues related to the enforcement and enforcement of copyright in relation to digital content (e.g. whether a work is considered to have been made available to the public online, in hyperlinks, in NFTs or in the Metaverse, etc.)? The French and common law systems have converged somewhat over time. Analogues to moral rights are increasingly recognized by U.S. courts, and eleven U.S. states explicitly recognize moral rights in law. The states of California and New York guarantee the integrity of the author`s work, and the Visual Artists` Rights Act, enacted on October 27, 1990, includes the moral rights of artists in federal law. In the United Kingdom, moral rights have been incorporated into copyright law (Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988).

In principle, all works are protected by copyright, provided they are original. Considerations such as the merit of the author or the purpose of the work, the nature of the work or the form of expression are irrelevant. The digital community turned to Brussels in spring 2019 when the Council of the European Union adopted the Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market adopted by Parliament on 26 March 2019 on 15 April. The aim of the Directive is to adapt EU copyright law to the digital age. Under Article 55 of the 1958 Constitution, a ratified treaty is superior to French law. Therefore, the conflict-of-laws rules of the Berne Convention are used to determine the applicability of the French Intellectual Property Code. Can attorneys` fees and expenses be claimed in a copyright infringement lawsuit? French jurisprudence admits an exception if the work of art protected by copyright is “in comparison with the main subject represented or treated” (CA Paris, 27. October 1992, Antenne 2 c/ société Spadem, “the representation of a work located in a public place is lawful only when it is ancillary to the main subject represented or treated”).

Thus, the judgment #567 of the Court of Cassation of March 15, 2005 denied producers of works of art installed in a public square the right to photos of the entire square[18]: In a recent decision of March 31, 2022, the court of Nanterre carried out an important proportionality review. In that case, the General Court held that the intensity of the copyright infringement was lower than that which would infringe the principle of freedom of expression enshrined in Article 10 of the ECHR. Thus, minimal copyright infringement may be justified by a fundamental freedom, such as freedom of expression. Does the duration of copyright depend on the date of creation or publication of a particular work? Yes. In the EU, and in France in particular, intellectual property law includes, in addition to copyright, the following rights, which are closely linked to copyright: related rights; the rights of organisers of sporting events; industrial design rights; database rights; and specific rights to semiconductor topographies. The additional requirements for each right are: What are the copyright registration fees? Under French law, there is no exception to copyright protection for the use of a work for educational purposes; The reproduction of a work intended for distribution to students in an educational environment must be authorized by the owner of the rights to the reproduced work. The criterion for the protection of a work under French copyright is that it is a work of the mind, a work of the mind (art. L112-1). Therefore, there must be a human intellectual contribution to the work. A list of the types of protected works is contained in art. L112-2: This list (taken from the Berne Convention) is not exhaustive.

Under French law, regardless of the employment contract that may come into force between an employer and his employee, the employee remains the author of his work and therefore the owner of the copyright. It should be noted that while the author or owner of the intellectual property rights in a work of decorative designs or useful objects normally enjoys copyright protection in France, this protection is not granted to foreigners who do not reside in France or the European Union or who have not published their work for the first time in France. unless there is reciprocity between the France and the country of origin of the author of the work, so that the laws of that country also grant copyright protection for these types of works.

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