Emmanuel Gillet

France: infringement of copyright (bracelets and photographs), design rights, personality rights, unfair competition and free riding

Ms X, a jewellery designer, sued FQP Network before the Lyon court for reproducing her bracelet models and her photographs on bluepearls.fr and rueducommerce.fr. The judgment of 2 February 2021 dissects the claims. Design rights: infringement upheld for several models — EUR 10,000 for the lost licensing opportunity plus EUR 2,000 in moral damages. Copyright: rejected for the bracelets, originality being insufficiently demonstrated, but admitted for the photographs (EUR 460, at EUR 10 per photo per month, plus EUR 500). Personality rights: EUR 1,500 for the unauthorised disclosure of her face, hands and forearms. Unfair competition and free riding: EUR 3,000, the use of the photographs to promote identical products creating a risk of confusion and unduly exploiting her investments. Some EUR 14,460 in total, plus publication of the decision — a useful map of the remedies available to designers online.

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Article Information

Author

Emmanuel Gillet

Publication Date

8 March 2021

Jurisdiction

Topics

Copyright · Counterfeiting · Court Litigation · Design Law

Industry

Related Decision(s)

Tribunal judiciaire de Lyon (3e chambre)Mme X c. FQP Network (bluepearls.fr, rueducommerce.fr)2021-02-02

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