French Intellectual Property Code
In forceI.-The approval referred to in Article L. 331-2 is issued, on an individual basis, by the Minister responsible for culture for a renewable period of five years.
To issue the authorisation, the Minister checks that the agent is a national of a Member State of the European Union or of a State party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area and that he or she has the skills and guarantees required for the duties for which authorisation is sought.
Accreditation may not be granted if the applicant has been convicted of a crime or sentenced to a criminal penalty for acts incompatible with the duties to be performed. The Minister responsible for culture shall ensure compliance with this condition by requesting that the agent's bulletin no. 2 of the criminal record be sent to the automated national criminal record by a secure means of telecommunication or its equivalent for nationals of a Member State of the European Union or another State party to the agreement on the European Economic Area.
II.-The application submitted by the Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée, a professional defence body referred to in Article L. 331-1 or a collective management organisation mentioned in Title II of this Book with a view to obtaining approval for one of its agents comprises:
1° A birth certificate with filiation for French nationals or an equivalent document for nationals of a Member State of the European Union or another State party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area;
2° An indication of the duties entrusted to the agent and a copy of the documents attesting to his level of training and professional experience, particularly in the collection of evidence.
III.-The application for renewal of the authorisation shall be submitted no later than three months prior to the expiry of the authorisation.
The application for renewal shall include only an indication of the duties performed by the agent.
IV.-After being authorised by the Minister responsible for culture, agents shall take an oath before the judge of the judicial court of their residence, at the seat of this court or, where applicable, of one of its local chambers. The wording of the oath is as follows: "I swear that I will perform my duties well and faithfully and that I will not reveal or use anything that comes to my knowledge during the performance of these duties".
These agents remain bound by the terms of their oath throughout the performance of their duties, without being required to take a new oath each time their approval is renewed.
V.-The Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée, the professional defence bodies referred to in Article L. 331-1 and the collective management bodies referred to in Title II of this book shall inform the Minister responsible for culture as soon as possible if the agent for whom they have applied for approval no longer performs the duties for which he/she was approved or ceases to be employed by them.
VI.-The Minister responsible for culture may, by reasoned decision, terminate the authorisation if the holder no longer performs the duties for which he or she was authorised or no longer meets the conditions defined in I of this article.
The interested party will be informed in advance of the reasons for and nature of the proposed measure and given the opportunity to submit observations. In urgent cases, the Minister responsible for culture may suspend the authorisation for a maximum period of six months.
>The Minister responsible for culture may suspend the authorisation for a maximum period of six months.The Minister responsible for culture may suspend the authorisation for a maximum period of six months.
