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RIDA 256 | 04-2018

Doctrine

The nature of the author’s right

LUCAS, André

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Début de l'article :

For an old professor who embraced the cause of authors’ rights almost 50 years ago, the mood is inevitably somewhat subdued when the time comesto take stock, because it is an understatement to say that the cause has not progressed. But anyway, after the time for impressions comes the time foranalysis. The law of 1957 may not have all the virtues that it is tempting to ascribe to it in retrospect. And it is not forbidden to keep on hoping, even inthese troubled times for intellectual property. The angle of attack from which I have been asked to shed light on developments over the last sixty years is that of the “nature of the author’s right”. For the legislator in 1957, the answer was obvious: it is a property right. Article 1 of the law confirms this right away: “The author of a work ofthe mind shall enjoy in that work, by the mere fact of its creation, an exclusive incorporeal property right enforceable against all persons.” The provision,which became the first paragraph of article L. 111-1 of the Intellectual Property Code, has not aged at all. However, this permanency should not mislead us. Behind the reassuring statement of principle, there is the more worrying reality.