US embassy cable - 05PARIS7749

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 007749 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EB/IPE - SWILSON 
DEPT PLS PASS USTR FOR VESPINEL 
COMMERCE FOR SJACOBS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ETRD, KIPR, FR 
SUBJECT:  FRANCE:  IPR ISSUES UPDATE 
 
 
1.  (U) This message contains a series of updates on French 
Intellectual Property (IPR) and cultural policy news. 
 
French Net pirates prefer U.S. films 
------------------------------------ 
 
2. (U) Almost 38 percent of French Internet users admit to 
illegally downloading movies, with a marked preference for 
U.S. movies, according to a recent French survey carried out 
by the National Center for Cinematography (CNC) and the 
Association against Audiovisual Piracy (ALPA).  A comparison 
with last year's survey -- the first such study in France -- 
shows that movie piracy is on the rise in France since 
illegal movie downloads were admitted by 36.4 percent of 
users last year. 
 
3. (U) The recent survey, which covers films released 
theatrically between August 1, 2004 and July 31, 2005, 
further shows that French net pirates prefer American films, 
which represent 72.7 percent of all pirated films, compared 
with 26.4 percent for French films. 
 
French to Implement EU Copyright Directive 
------------------------------------------- 
 
4. (U) French Parliament is expected to adopt the 2001 
European Union Copyright Directive (EUCD) in early 2006 as 
part of an emergency procedure called for by Prime Minister 
Dominique de Villepin.  France's tardiness in adopting the 
EUCD earned it the threat of a fine from the European 
Commission last summer.  The emergency procedure, which is 
limited to one reading by both houses, is designed to keep 
controversy surrounding this text to a minimum.  The EUCD 
was created to bring the copyright laws of EU countries into 
alignment with the WIPO Treaties of 1996, just as the 
Millenium Copyright Act was originally designed to do in the 
U.S.  It outlaws bypassing controls on digital media as well 
as making, distributing or possessing tools capable of 
bypassing digital controls. 
 
5. (U) French groups representing consumers and copyright 
holder interests have been opposing the EUCD since May 2003, 
when the GOF first attempted to transpose it into French 
law.  Recently, they launched a high-profile anti-EUCD 
campaign, on the grounds that it conflicts with French 
private copying rights and stifles competition in the 
software market.  They have created a specific website, 
appealed to France's Data Protection Agency, the CNIL 
(Commission Nationale Informatique et Libertes), and written 
to the French President and Prime Minister not to "rush" the 
implementation process, so far to no avail. 
 
New GOF campaign against Digital Piracy 
--------------------------------------- 
 
6. (U) French Culture and Industry Ministers announced on 
November 10 that they would launch a campaign in January 
2006 to make the public more aware of the damaging effect of 
counterfeiting and digital piracy.  They said that the Anti- 
Piracy Charter they brokered last year among industry and 
internet service providers (ISP) to prevent net users from 
pirating pop music was bearing fruit.  Under the agreement 
signed by French net providers and record companies in July 
2004, net users who pirate music are sent warnings and face 
being cut off if they do not stop the illegal sharing.  To 
give people an alternative to free pirated tracks, French 
music firms have doubled to 600,000 the numbers of 
legitimate tunes available to buy and download, as 
originally proposed by the charter. 
 
French "CNN" before the end of 2006? 
----------------------------------- 
 
7. (U) After several years of delay and controversy, French 
Culture Minister Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres confirmed 
earlier this month that France's new international news 
channel CFII, would be launched before the end of 2006.  As 
a first step, the government will soon announce the 
establishment of CFII (Chaine Francaise d'Information 
Internationale), a part-private/part-public company 
initially financed by public capital.   The company will be 
a joint venture public television group France Television 
and private network TF1, France's most popular channel and 
part of the Bouygues construction group.  The GOF will 
provide 65 million Euros in 2006 to give the new network a 
starting thrust. 
 
 
8. (U) Regarded as "essential" to projecting France's 
image in the world, the CFII project was first introduced 
by President Jacques Chirac in March 2002, to compete with 
CNN and the BBC.  Its programs will be mostly in French, 
but also in English, Arabic and Spanish. 
 
 
 
 
Hofmann