Directing A Spotlight On The Feud Over Ownership Of Château Miraval’S Lights

French daily paper Libération recently reported well-nigh the legal feud betwixt histrion Brad Pitt together with French creative mortal Odile Soudant. It appears that Pitt hired Soudant to practise the lightning organisation for the château Miraval, inwards the South of France, which Pitt together with Angelina Jolie bought inwards 2008. See here for an AFP article well-nigh this floor inwards English.

Soudant worked for many years for famous French architect Jean Nouvel, i of Pitt’s favorites, together with the source of inspiration for the starting fourth dimension hollo of i of his children. Soudant straight off has her ain company, merely she late filed bankruptcy. She explained to Libération that the source of her fiscal troubles lies inwards her long delineate of piece of occupation organisation association amongst Pitt.

The histrion asked Soudant inwards 2010 to blueprint the lightning organisation for the castle, together with she worked on the projection for iii years together with a half. She had been given carte blanche, merely the 2 parties did non sign a contract [collective gasp of attorneys reading this]. She signed, however, a confidentiality contract, which has prevented her so far to utter over her work.

At i indicate during the completion of the work, according to Libération, Soudant’s fellowship had to advance the terms to consummate the travel together with pay the contractors together with the vendors, causing cash menses problems. Soudant contacted Pitt several times, hollo for him to furnish the funds necessary to pay the project-related bills so that the projection could last completed. The cash menses issues jeopardized the fiscal equilibrium of her company, which eventually went bankrupt.

Last April, the Paris Court of appeals ordered i of Pitt together with Jolie’s companies, the société Château Miraval, to pay  565 000 euros to Odile Soudant, lx 000 euros of which to compensate for damages to her epitome together with reputation.

We volition non utter over this complex contractual issue, merely entirely the copyright number created past times this situation. Indeed, according to Libération, Soudant was abruptly asked to exit inwards 2014, earlier beingness able to destination her work, which was completed past times i of her quondam assistants.

Who owns the copyright inwards the works?

In France, the writer of a travel is the i who gave it the imprint of his or her personality. The fact that Soudant did non consummate the travel is irrelevant every bit article L 111-2 of the French Intellectual Property Code protects a travel fifty-fifty if it has non been finished, together with fifty-fifty if it has non been published.

The lightning of a edifice tin indeed last protected past times the French copyright, the droit d’auteur. The Cour de cassation held on March 3, 1992, amongst honor to the lighting of the Eiffel Tower, that the “games of lite designed  to break together with emphasize the lines together with forms of a monument constitutes an master copy visual creation together with are thus a travel of the mind.”

Libération quotes the testimony of an architect who took exercise inwards the project, maxim that “the ideas for the lightning came chiefly from Mr. Pitt himself, who is passionate well-nigh architecture together with knew what he wanted to achieve.” Pitt’s lawyers told Libération that Pitt considers himself to last the writer of the work.  In that case, it would non affair who completed the work, Soudant or her quondam assistant, because both would last mere workers working nether the absolute administration of Pitt, the sole author. Soudant, instead, considers her to last the writer of these master copy industrial plant together with told Libération that she did non gave away whatsoever of her intellectual belongings rights.

Who has the correct to reproduce the works?

Pitt’s lawyers told Libération that the château Miraval is a individual space, together with thence in that place are no issues over the rights to the epitome of the work. They must last referring to the French correct to epitome of one’s goods, including buildings that i owns. The Cour de cassation had starting fourth dimension held, inwards its March 10, 1999 Café Gondrée decision, that “the owner [of a building] has the sole correct to exploit his correct inwards whatsoever cast whatsoever,” including the correct to authorize taking a photograph of a building. However, the Cour de cassation en banc (Assemblée Plénière) held on May 7, 2004, that “the possessor of a skillful does non accept an exclusive correct over its image”. This agency that, piece Pitt together with Jolie ain the château, they cannot forbid people taking pictures of it.  

But practise they ain the copyright inwards the lighting of their humble abode? If they practise not, together with if Soudant owns it, she lone has the correct to authorize its reproduction. Libération notes that the Guerlain advertising get celluloid featuring Jolie was shot at Miraval, together with that the actress is seen going downward the stairs, which she owns amongst Pitt, inwards a menses of lite designed past times Soudant… or is it past times Pitt?

Is the lightning organisation the sole travel of Soudant, or a collective travel authored past times Soudant or Pitt, or is it a composite work, starting fourth dimension created past times Soudant, so incorporated inwards a novel work? Let’s promise for copyright-related sequel to the Paris Court of appeals contract case.

Photo is courtesy of Flickr user Patrick Gaudin nether a CC BY 2.0 license.