Justice Credits: iStock/ThinkStock
In November 2013, Facebook France was ordered by justice to reopen the unofficial page of “Plus Belle La Vie”, managed by a fan of the series. However, the Paris Court of Appeal has just overturned this decision, considering that Facebook France is not the host of this page.
Laurence C. has been the creator of pblvmarseille.fr since 2004. In 2008, she opened a Facebook page dedicated to her favourite series, entitled “PBLV Marseille“. A great success: at the beginning of 2012, more than 600,000 fans are expected to attend. At the time, relations were quite good with TelFrance Série, the producer of the Marseille series, since the host cooperated with her, notably for the organization of contests.
In February 2012, these honeyed relationships will take on a vinegary taste. Telfrance Série, owner of the PBL and Plus Belle la Vie brands since 2009 and 2010 respectively, requests and obtains from Facebook the closure of this unofficial page. It takes advantage of this opportunity to demand the merger of this group with its own pages, claiming an illicit use of its trademarks registered at the INPI.
Opposite, the host attacks Facebook France and the production company. It is a victory in front of the Tribunal de Grande Instance of Paris where the judges summoned the French company to restore within 15 days this page devoid of commercial aims. They further order the production company to pay EUR 10 000 in damages plus EUR 3 000 to cover its costs.
Facebook France is not the host of Facebook
Except the case didn’t end there. Facebook France, no doubt sensing a bad wind, has sued before the Paris Court of Appeal to be exonerated: this local branch refuses to be considered as the host of the social network especially as such a quality would be a real factory for lawsuits.
Facebook France reminds you of its general terms of use: the social network is operated and hosted by Facebook Inc. (for U.S. users) and Facebook Ireland Limited (for non-U.S. users). It is therefore a separate company, in fact a simple marketing, lobbying or communication entity, as it is listed on the register of companies.
For her part, the creator of the PBLV Marseille page is now claiming damages against Facebook France. It considers that these GTCs are worthless on this point and that the procedure for notification of illegal content, provided for in Article 6.I.5 of the law of 21 June 2004 for confidence in the digital economy, was not respected: the page was closed even though “the content was not of a manifestly illegal nature.»
On October 17, the Paris Court of Appeals finally tipped the balance in favor of Facebook France: “has no authority or control over the operations and content of the Facebook.com service. ». As a result, the Court of Appeal ruled that the court could not order her to reinstate the page closed by Facebook Ireland. It will also require the upset host to bear all legal costs.
Finally, it should be noted that the European Court of Justice has ruled that Google Spain is responsible for the processing of personal data of the engine in question in order to inject the right to oblivion. He rightly relied on the commercial involvement of Google’s local branch to justify this measure. A freedom that the French justice system has not been able to take on Facebook.
Published on October 20, 2014 at 11:58 am
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