Cour d’Appel [Regional Court of Appeal] Toulouse, Mar. 16, 2000 (France)
Complaining Work |
Defending Work |
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Various pop songs in SACEM catalog |
Mashups of various pop songs in SACEM catalog |
Comment by Gauthier Lunardi:
During a “Rave-Party,” DJs had remixed songs protected by the Droit d’auteur. They did not have the authorization of the authors.
Judges held that all the remixed songs were changed/transformed. They consider that an “average listener” was not able to recognize the original song. Therefore, there was no copyright infringement.
Some legal scholars (including Pierre-Yves Gautier) have criticized this decision. Indeed, they consider that the remix was an “oeuvre dérivée .” Oeuvre dérivée means that an author wants to use a former artistic work to make a new one. An “oeuvre dérivée” requires the author’s authorization.
The DJs consider that the judges should have taken the “discerned observer” standard instead of the “average listener” standard. They do not agree with the balance made by the judges in this case between freedom of creation and protection of the artist.
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Cour d’appel [Regional Court of Appeal] Toulouse (French) (2000): PDF
Abstract of Cour d’appel decision (English) PDF