Sales of films, like those of paintings and sculptures, can now be banned by the state in the name of preserving cultural sovereignty. But unlike works of art, there is no mechanism for pre-emption by the State in the event of disagreement with the seller. The law on the regulation and protection of access to cultural works in the digital age was published in the Official newspaper October 26.
Transfers of films and catalogs must be notified by the producer to the Ministry of Culture, which will ensure that the buyer will be ” able (…) to search [une] continued exploitation of works ”. A commission may oppose the sale within six months after notification. The application decrees are eagerly awaited to remove the many questions left unanswered by this text.
“It’s a real missed meeting with the public authorities”, laments Sabrina Joutard, president of the Union of heritage film catalogs and deputy director of the Pathé Films catalog. The union, which represents 80% of French film heritage, was initially neither consulted nor informed. “If film catalogs are a strategic asset for France, then an ambitious new financial plan is needed for this sector”, says Mme Joutard. In his view, some owners sell because they cannot cover the costs of digitizing and restoring films.
“A sloppy text”
“That the State ask for a right of inspection on the films that it has financially helped sometimes up to 80% to 90% of their budget. Why not ? “, underlines the cinema banker Didier Courtois Duverger, Chairman of Natixis Coficine. Corn “This botched text risks spoiling, not the big three in the sector (Studio Canal, Pathé and Gaumont), but the small producers for whom the film catalogs constitute a heritage”, he assures. Knowing that the valuation of a film depends on the holding of mandates according to the territories and the supports.
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Some companies, such as Mandarin, Fidélité, Quad or Epithète have sold their catalog, sometimes several times, to concentrate on their production activity. Other production houses, such as Nord Ouest or Pelléas refuse to do so. Director Claude Lelouch, for example, kept the rights to all his films. “Why would they be penalized? “, asks Mr. Courtois Duverger. Financial difficulties can also force you to sell. In 2019, Luc Besson sold 300 feature films from Roissy Films to Gaumont. And the owner of the largest catalog of films in Europe, Studio Canal, already a shareholder in Mars, resumed its 200 films when the latter was in receivership.
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