Paris (AFP)

After the trial, the reconciliation between Facebook and the art lover: a Frenchman who accused the American giant of censorship for having closed the account on which he had published a photo of the painting of Gustave Courbet "The Origin of the world" has put an end to his lawsuits, his lawyer told AFP on Thursday.

The user announced that he had reached an agreement with Facebook for a joint donation to an art association specializing in street art.

"Art enthusiast for many years, Mr. Durand announces jointly with Facebook a donation to the association Le MUR (association flexible, urban, responsive), to help them pursue their artistic and cultural mission and achieve their goals ", explains Me Stéphane Cottineau in an email.

"This donation puts an end to the legal action that pitted Mr. Durand against Facebook," adds the lawyer. This is the epilogue of a case that lasted 8 years.

Frédéric Durand, a school teacher, reproached the social network for having disabled his personal account, opened under the pseudonym Fred La Face De Fredb, "without notice or justification", on February 27, 2011. The cutoff would have occurred a few hours after the publication on his wall of the famous painting of Courbet, "The Origin of the world", which represents a female sex.

But in March 2018, the court dismissed Frédéric Durand, judging that it was not demonstrated "that the deactivation of the account Fred Fredb's Face is due to the display on the wall of a photo of the painting by Gustave Courbet + The Origin of the World + ".

The court acknowledged "a fault" by Facebook, who exercised "his right of termination without opposing Frédéric Durand a reasonable period of notice and without specifying the reasons for this deactivation". The judges pointed out that the plaintiff had "opened a new account on the day of his deactivation". "It is not disputed that there posted the table + The Origin of the World + and that this account is still active," said the court.

Frédéric Durand's lawyer, Stéphane Cottineau, then announced that he would appeal, a procedure from which he has now withdrawn.

Mr. Cottineau did not give details concerning the terms of the agreement, namely the amount of the donation, the reasons that led to the choice of this association, or which of the two parties began the steps leading to the end of the prosecution. .

Contacted by AFP, Facebook did not wish to react.

© 2019 AFP