Re: French copyright law...

On Mon, March 10, 1997, Alexander Klett <aklett[_at_]blue.weeg.uiowa.edu> wrote:
>
> Dear subscribers - especially those in France,
>
> I have just been trying to find the amendment to the French Code de la
> Propriete Intellectuelle which would have transformed the EU directive
> 93/98 into French law. This was the directive unifying the term of
> protection at life +70.
>
> I could not find any such amendment. I looked at J.C.P. 1994, 1995, 1996,
> 1997. I then tried to find the Code on the net, and I found it, but it
> said that the term of protection was life +50. It had a little footnote
> saying that according to the directive there should be a term of life +70.
> So my question is : Has France not amended the Code yet to reflect the
> directive 93/98 ?

Coincidentally, I just received a fax from French counsel this morning which included some information on you inquiry.

It appears that currently, article L 123-1 of the Code de la Propriete Intellectuelle (CPI) specifies that the author's rights are protected for 50 years after the year of death. European Community provisions (article 1 of the Directive dated October 29, 1993) extended that period to 70 years after the author's death. Member States were to modify their legislation by July 1, 1995.

Apparently, the CPI does not yet refer to the 70 year period, but "Community rules may be considered to override it". Thus, we have been advised to follow the 70 years after death rule even though no Code amendment has occurred.

Hope this is helpful,

Alicia Brillon
aliciab[_at_]photodisc.com Received on Tue Mar 11 1997 - 19:00:58 GMT