The Gaumont and EuropaCorp companies, the directors Luc Besson and François Ozon, as well as the Society of Dramatic Authors and Composers (SACD) have assigned the far-right polemicist and his movement Reconquest!

for copyright infringement, told AFP Me Olivier Chatel, confirming information from the Sunday newspaper.

The beneficiaries of Marcel Carné and Jacques Prévert and other authors and filmmakers are also among the applicants, said Me Chatel.

Eric Zemmour is assigned on January 27 at 2:00 p.m. before the Paris court, he said.

The plaintiff companies and the authors dispute the use by Eric Zemmour of several extracts from works of which they hold the economic or moral rights and this without their authorization, in the clip announcing his candidacy for the presidential election, broadcast on November 30 on his YouTube channel.

In this ten-minute clip, which has more than three million views, the far-right candidate notably used images from the films "Jeanne d'Arc" by Luc Besson, "Dans la maison" by François Ozon, or the "Quai des Brumes", directed by Marcel Carné.

Eric Zemmour's lawyers also confirmed to AFP this assignment on January 27.

"It is obviously legal relentlessness, we took images, but which lasted a few seconds. I believe that there is case law on this subject, but I will not get into legal disputes", reacted Sunday Eric Zemmour on France 3.

Several media, including Agence France-Presse, had also strongly protested against the unauthorized use of their images by the far-right candidate, and brandished the threat of legal action.

Eric Zemmour's campaign clip had been reported by companies and media to the YouTube platform, which decided on December 2 not to remove the video, while prohibiting its access to minors because of images deemed violent.

asl-cgu-gd-ib/cb/abl

© 2022 AFP