Publishing, the Rules of the Trade
Mitterrand, une histoire de Français, I. Les risques de l’escalade, II. Les vertiges du sommet
Jean Lacouture, Éditions du Seuil, original edition, 1998, Coll. Bfm - Limoges
Jacques Attali accused Jean Lacouture of abusing the right to quote. Attali, former advisor to the President, wrote his memoirs in Verbatim (1993, Fayard). This book was liberally cited by Lacouture in his biography François Mitterand. Une histoire de Français. The right to quote another work exists, but the authorship of passages cited, with references, must be acknowledged and must not exceed reasonable proportions in relation to the original work and in relation to the book quoting them. Before publication, Fayard and Attali refused an offer of damages from Le Seuil who recognised an excessive use of quotations. During the interim proceedings to have the book banned, Attali’s lawyer cited 35 pages of quotations where the authorship was not acknowledged. They claimed 100,000 francs and 10 % of all royalties due to Lacouture. Judging the principle of the case, the court decided that documents from the archives used in Verbatim were not the intellectual property of Attali and that in spite of their length, the quotations in Jean Lacouture’s book were in the public domain. The demands to ban the book and obtain damages were rejected.
Mitterrand, une histoire de Français, I. Les risques de l’escalade, II. Les vertiges du sommet
Jean Lacouture, Éditions du Seuil, original edition, 1998, Coll. Bfm - Limoges
Jacques Attali accused Jean Lacouture of abusing the right to quote. Attali, former advisor to the President, wrote his memoirs in Verbatim (1993, Fayard). This book was liberally cited by Lacouture in his biography François Mitterand. Une histoire de Français. The right to quote another work exists, but the authorship of passages cited, with references, must be acknowledged and must not exceed reasonable proportions in relation to the original work and in relation to the book quoting them. Before publication, Fayard and Attali refused an offer of damages from Le Seuil who recognised an excessive use of quotations. During the interim proceedings to have the book banned, Attali’s lawyer cited 35 pages of quotations where the authorship was not acknowledged. They claimed 100,000 francs and 10 % of all royalties due to Lacouture. Judging the principle of the case, the court decided that documents from the archives used in Verbatim were not the intellectual property of Attali and that in spite of their length, the quotations in Jean Lacouture’s book were in the public domain. The demands to ban the book and obtain damages were rejected.