Copyright
Where the gap with US law is widest.
When a client’s work is copied, used or licensed in France, US and Commonwealth counsel often find their instincts do not transfer. French copyright — droit d’auteur — protects the author first, not the investor. We act as your European desk: you keep the client relationship, we handle the French and EU analysis and any enforcement.
Protection is automatic — there is no copyright register
French law protects an original work from the moment it is created, with no filing and no registration. There is no French equivalent of the U.S. Copyright Office, and registration is never a precondition to protection or to suit. Rights exist immediately — but because nothing is on a register, the burden of showing what was created, by whom and when falls on the claimant if a dispute arises.
“Work made for hire” does not exist
In France the author — the natural person who created the work — is the first owner of copyright, even where the work was commissioned or made by an employee. A company that pays for a logo, a website or a campaign does not, by that fact alone, own the copyright.
Ownership passes only through a written assignment that meets strict formalities: each right must be set out individually, with its scope, purpose, territory and duration. A broad “all rights, all media, in perpetuity” clause drafted to U.S. standards is frequently unenforceable in part. We redraft these clauses so they transfer what your client believes it acquired.
Moral rights cannot be waived
Independently of the economic rights, the author holds moral rights — chiefly attribution and the integrity of the work. These are perpetual, inalienable and unwaivable: a clause purporting to waive them is ineffective, and they pass to the author’s heirs. For a client intending to modify or rebrand a commissioned work, this is a real constraint, to be managed by consent and drafting.
Enforcement
Where a work is infringed in France, evidence can be secured through a saisie-contrefaçon, urgent relief obtained in référé, and damages claimed before the specialised courts. We act throughout, in coordination with you — you instruct us, we report to you, and we do not approach your client directly.