French Intellectual Property Code

The provisions of Article L. 131-3-1 apply to local authorities, public administrative establishments, independent administrative authorities with legal personality, the Banque de France, the Institut de France, the Académie française, the Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres, the Académie des sciences, the Académie des beaux-arts and the Académie des sciences morales et politiques in respect of works created by their employees in the performance of their duties or on instructions received.

A Conseil d’Etat decree sets out the terms and conditions for applying articles L. 131-3-1 and L. 131-3-2. In particular, it defines the conditions under which a civil servant who is the author of a work may be interested in the proceeds from its exploitation when the public entity employing him or her, which is the assignee of the exploitation right, has derived an advantage from the non-commercial exploitation of…

The transfer by the author of his rights over his work may be total or partial. It must include for the benefit of the author a proportional share of the revenue from the sale or exploitation. However, the author’s remuneration may be assessed on a flat-rate basis in the following cases: 1° The basis for calculating the proportional shareholding cannot be practically determined; 2° The means of controlling the application…

I.-In the case of assignment of the exploitation right, where the author has suffered a loss of more than seven twelfths due to injury or insufficient forecasting of the proceeds of the work, he may request a revision of the price conditions of the contract. This request may only be made in cases where the work has been assigned for a fixed remuneration. This request may only be made in…

I.-Where the author has transferred all or part of his exploitation rights, the assignee shall send him or make available to him by an electronic communication process, at least once a year, explicit and transparent information on all income generated by the exploitation of the work, distinguishing between the different modes of exploitation and the remuneration due for each mode of exploitation, subject to Articles L. 132-17-3 and L. 132-28….

I.-Where the author has transferred all or part of his rights on an exclusive basis, he may, in the absence of any exploitation of his work, terminate ipso jure the transfer of all or part of those rights. II.-The procedures for exercising the right of termination referred to in I shall be defined by means of a professional agreement concluded between, on the one hand, professional authors’ bodies or collective…

The provisions of articles L. 131-4 to L. 131-5-1 are of public order

A clause in an assignment that tends to confer the right to exploit the work in a form not foreseeable or not provided for at the date of the contract must be express and stipulate a correlative share in the profits of exploitation.

In the event of a partial assignment, the successor in title is substituted for the author in the exercise of the rights assigned, under the conditions, within the limits and for the duration stipulated in the contract, and with the obligation to render an account.

With a view to the payment of royalties and remuneration due to them for the last three years in connection with the transfer, exploitation or use of their works, as defined in article L. 112-2 of this code, authors, composers and artists benefit from the privilege provided for in 3° of Article 2331 and in Article 2377 of the Civil Code.