French Intellectual Property Code
In forceI.-Professional journalists or journalists treated as such, within the meaning of articles L. 7111-3 to L. 7111-5 of the Labour Code, and other authors of works included in the press publications referred to in Article L. 218-1 of this Code are entitled to an appropriate and equitable share of the remuneration referred to in Article L. 218-4. This share and the arrangements for its distribution among the authors concerned are set under conditions determined by a company agreement or, failing that, by any other collective agreement within the meaning of article L. 2222-1 of the French Labour Code. For other authors, this share is determined by a specific agreement negotiated between, on the one hand, the representative professional organisations of press companies and press agencies and, on the other hand, the professional authors' organisations or the collective management bodies mentioned in Title II of Book III of this Part. In all cases, this additional remuneration does not have the status of a salary.
II.-In the absence of an agreement within six months of the publication of the loi n° 2019-775 du 24 juillet 2019 tendant à créer un droit voisin au profit des agences de presse et des éditeurs de presse et en l'absence de toute autre accord applicable, l'une des parties à la négociation de l'accord d'entreprise ou de l'accord spécifique mentionnés au I du présent article peut se saisir la commission prévue au III. The committee shall seek a compromise solution with the parties in order to reach an agreement. In the event of persistent disagreement, it will set the appropriate share provided for in I and the arrangements for its distribution between the authors concerned.
III - For the implementation of II, a commission is set up, chaired by a representative of the State and made up, in addition, of half representatives of representative professional organisations of press companies and press agencies and half representatives of representative organisations of journalists and other authors mentioned in I. The State representative is appointed from among the members of the Cour de Cassation, the Conseil d'Etat or the Cour des Comptes, by order of the Minister responsible for communication.
If no compromise solution is found between the parties, the commission will render its decision within four months of the matter being referred to it.
The Commission's decision does not prevent new collective bargaining from taking place in the companies concerned. The collective agreement resulting from this negotiation replaces the commission's decision, once it has been filed by the most diligent party with the administrative authority, in accordance with article L. 2231-6 of the Labour Code.
IV.-Professional journalists or journalists treated as such and the other authors mentioned in I of this article shall receive at least once a year, if necessary by electronic means, updated, relevant and complete information on the methods for calculating the appropriate and equitable share of remuneration due to them pursuant to I.
V.-A decree in the Council of State lays down the conditions for application of this article, in particular the composition and procedures for referral to and operation of the commission, the means of judicial appeal against its decisions and the procedures for publicising them.
