Part I of the French Intellectual Property Code (Articles L. 111-1 et seq. and R. 111-1 et seq.), which implements the 2001 European Copyright Directive, governs the protection of copyrights in France.
The revised Audiovisual Media Services Directive has entered into force on 18 December 2018 and was transposed into French law, via an Ordinance No. 2020-1642 voted on 21 December 2020. Video-sharing platforms will now be submitted to this regulation. The Ordinance notably amended the Law of 30 September 1986 on freedom of communication, the Code of cinema and moving image, as well as the deadlines for the exploitation of cinematographic works. It also provides for the prohibition of incitement to terrorist acts in television programs and the strengthening of the rules on the protection of minors by prohibiting service providers from processing the personal data of minors for commercial purposes.
Part of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive was also implemented by the Law of 25 October 2021 and by Decree No. 2021-1853 of 27 December 2021, which materializes the merger of the Audiovisual Superior Council (CSA) and the Supreme Authority for the Distribution and Protection of Intellectual Property on the Internet (HADOPI) in a new independent authority: the Audiovisual and Digital Communication Regulatory Authority (ARCOM). The prerogatives of the new institution have been extended with regard to the fight against piracy. The law also creates a regime to protect the French public's access to cinematographic and audiovisual works in the event of the transfer of catalogues of works to a foreign operator.
With regard to media law, Article L. 137-1 of the Intellectual Property Code now defines the online content sharing service provider as the person who provides an online public communication service, one which has a main objective of storing and giving the public access to a significant quantity of works or other protected objects uploaded by its users, and who organizes and promotes the content with a view to making a direct or indirect profit from it. Decree No. 2021-1369 of 20 October 2021 specifies the methods for assessing the "significant quantity" of protected works uploaded. This text provides that this quantity may be deemed to have been reached when the service's audience and the number of content files uploaded by users of this service exceed a threshold of 400,000 unique visitors in France per month per online public communication service calculated on the basis of the last civil year.
The European Directive on Copyright and Related Rights in the Digital Single Market of 17 April 2019 has been transposed into French Law and has therefore created a related right for press agencies and press editors. Since 25 October 2019, all platforms, social networks and other sites aggregating information must obtain authorization from the publisher or the press agency, for any reproduction or communication to the public, in whole or in part, in digital form, of press publications. In return, publishers and press agencies may request remuneration.
In addition, Decree No. 2022-928 of 23 June 2022, which completes the transposition of the European Directive on Copyright and Related Rights in the Digital Single Market of 17 April 2019, has enshrined the exception to copyright for text and data mining for scientific and other purposes into French law.
On September 12, 2023, a new law proposal aims to provide a copyright framework for artificial intelligence. If adopted in its current wording, it would supplement the French Intellectual Property Code to enable artists to take better account of their rights in the face of the development of generative AI.
The main provisions of the contemplated law include the obligation to obtain an authorization for the use of protected works, the collective management of rights to works generated by AI, the obligation to mention the original authors and the taxation regime of works of indeterminate origin.