On Royalties and Transfers Without (Monetary) Consideration – Looking for the “Magic Formula” for Assessing the Validity of Remuneration Clauses of Copyright Transfers Under French Copyright Law

Abstract

For obvious reasons, remuneration clauses are probably the most important part of a copyright transfer. In France, copyright contract law provides for a specific legal framework for remuneration clauses of copyright transfers, whose “crown-jewel” is the principle of proportional (monetary) remuneration of the author. As of today, many problems occur since French copyright contract law remains unclear as far as it concerns the validity of copyright transfers without (monetary) consideration. This paper analyses that problem through the lens of a French Supreme Court (Cour de cassation) decision. More precisely, the paper shows the problematic character of the assessment of the validity of the remuneration clause made by the Court in that case and explains why this problematic assessment is linked to the unclear character of the actual French legal framework for copyright transfers without (monetary) remuneration. Finally, it offers some suggestions in order to find the “magic formula” for assessing the validity of copyright transfers without (monetary) consideration under the current legal framework, while it recommends the reform of the relevant legal texts, in order to make the regime of copyright transfers without (monetary) consideration more explicit.