justice decided not to remove “Sous la Seine” from the Netflix catalog – Libération

2024-07-04 09:41:40

The film Vincent Dietschy, who is accused of having used his idea of ​​a monster canal in Paris, was dismissed by the judge from the collective proposals on Wednesday, July 3. The producer of the film announces to answer, he will not feel ” basically he doesn’t listen”.

The film will eventually be available on Netflix. On Wednesday, July 3, the Paris court of justice released the director Vincent Dietschy, a filmmaker who asked him to order the platform to be removed. Under the Seine from its catalog, which has become the most watched French feature film on Netflix. He accused the American company of “parasitism”, a lie that is close to unfair competition and plagiarism.

In this emergency process, the judge does not judge on the merits of this film, but rules “unacceptable” The request of the director and his secretary Emily Barnett to ban its broadcast, because they attacked the French branch of Netflix and not the European company of the American platform, based in the Netherlands. “The company SAS Netflix France is not the operator, publisher, or host of the Netflix platform which appears to be the company Netflix International BV”, underlines interim orders.

“I find it awful not to be able to hear on the merits”, calculated Vincent Dietschy days after the decision. The written director announced “Resistance”which his lawyer, Me Héloïse De Castelneau, testified in a press release: “This decision […] lead us to unite the new support around us today to succeed, in the best conditions, in the end of our actions. “ One of the options being considered: taking legal action against the Netflix global company in the Netherlands. An way that “takes time and above all a lot of money”underlines the lawyer.

Today, Vincent Dietschy believes that this process goes beyond his own case. “Even if I fight for myself, it affects everyone”. “Don’t writers, already vulnerable in the eyes of audio producers and businessmen, find themselves simply helpless in the face of the unfathomable power of a foreign platform?” question Me De Castelneau in it click Release. “We must find a way to give writers the opportunity to give their views today, and to unite them,” added Dietschy.

During the hearing on June 14, the judge heard the questions of both, while the substantive procedures must begin in September. On the one hand, Me Héloïse de Castelnau represents Vincent Dietschy. This director said in April to Libe had thought about a film project in 2012; of a giant fish, transformed by genetic mutations and human consumption, which appears in the waters of Paris in the middle of a sporting event. Despite many years of work, he was able to raise the necessary funding to raise those.

In contrast, Netflix announced the film on May 5 Under the Seine on its platform, a feature film that is very similar in its premise and its progression. It tells the story of Sophia (Bérénice Bejo), a scientist who experiences a tragedy during a cruise, and Adil (Nassim Lyes), a policeman from the river force, who encounters a shark that has made its nest in the beach water reservoirs of Paris, and crunches the local population, during the triathlon championships, the “Olympic Games Presentation”.

“Jaws” and Steven Spielberg

This analogy is what Me De Castelnau tried to show during the debates on June 14. With Vincent Dietschy, he crossed all the “Contact Points” of the two films in the table sent to the judge, which is also compiled on video. The representative of Netflix, Mr. Charles Bouffier, focused his argument around the genre film, which will explain the similarities between the two horror films about underwater creatures. He also joked about the possible comparisons of the two films as well egg, is sure that Steven Spielberg himself can be accused in the same way as Netflix. “In copyright, we talk about the intersection between two kinds of ideas. But ideas are not protected by law. he announced. A day after the court decision, Me Bouffier did not want “a commentary on the current issue”.

Vincent Dietschy has not finished his legal battle since he was taken to court, on the merits this time, the two producers of Under the Seine, Edouard Duprey and Sébastien Auscher, as well as the representative and boss of Adéquat, Laurent Grégoire. He accused them “parasitism”, A concept close to unfair competition and invasion was summarized in 2001 by the Nancy Court of Appeal as a practice which “continue to exploit the work of others […] mainly by copying certain ideas related to a particular creation without any new contribution. As such, he asked the three men and Netflix to pay damages of more than 3 million euros.

Update : July 4, at 11:30 am, with reactions from Vincent Dietschy, Me De Castelneau and Me Bouffier