Europe 1 with AFP 5:29 p.m., March 10, 2022

YouTube said on Thursday that Eric Zemmour's presidential candidacy announcement clip had been blocked by the video platform in France, after the politician was convicted of using film footage without permission.

However, this clip remains visible elsewhere in the world.

Eric Zemmour's presidential candidacy announcement clip has been blocked by YouTube in France after the politician was convicted of using film footage without permission, the video platform said on Thursday.

This clip is no longer available for French users, but remains visible elsewhere in the world.

Justice ordered that the clip should no longer be broadcast with illegal extracts

According to YouTube France, this blocking was decided after a "request for withdrawal from a rights holder (owner of certain images present in the clip, editor's note), which was argued on the basis of the recent decision of the judicial court of Paris condemning the video for infringement".

In a judgment rendered last Friday, the Paris court condemned Éric Zemmour, his party Reconquête!

and one of his relatives, François Miramont, for "copyright infringement" and "infringement of moral and patrimonial rights" for having used film images in this clip without authorization.

The court decision did not impose the withdrawal of the clip, but ordered that it no longer be broadcast with the extracts in question.

This decision was to be applied within 7 days, under penalty of a penalty of 1,500 euros per day of delay.

Over three million views

"When a copyright holder notifies us of a court decision regarding a video that infringes their copyright, we promptly suspend the content as required by law," commented YouTube France.

In addition, the court ordered that a total of 70,000 euros be paid to the civil parties.

Eric Zemmour's entourage indicated that he would appeal this conviction.

This ten-minute clip, broadcast live on various channels on November 30, had been viewed more than three million times on YouTube before it was blocked.

Among the plaintiffs were the companies Gaumont and EuropaCorp, the directors Luc Besson and François Ozon, the Society of Dramatic Authors and Composers (SACD) or the beneficiaries of the director Henri Verneuil and the writer and screenwriter Jacques Prévert.

They disputed the unauthorized use of extracts from the films

Jeanne d'Arc

by Luc Besson (1999),

Un singe en hiver

by Henri Verneuil (1962),

Dans la maison

by François Ozon (2012),

Le quai des bombes

by Marcel Carné (1938) and the documentary

Louis Pasteur, portrait of a visionary

(2011).

This clip used other film or news footage whose owners had not taken legal action.