Louise Bernard, with Solène Delinger
The M6 channel has just been sentenced to 10,000 euros for image damage, and 3,000 euros in procedural costs, for having broadcast on its antenna a photo of a man bearing the same name as the terrorist Mohammed Merah in its program “66 minutes”. The photo had been presented as being that of the terrorist. This mistake by M6 “shattered” this man’s career.
This man, who bears the same name as the terrorist, had seen his photo broadcast on the antenna of M6 in 2012, two weeks after the attacks in Toulouse. A photo presented as being that of Mohammed Merah. This mistake led to ten years of litigation.
A photo broadcast in the program 66 minutes
But M6 has just been definitively sentenced to 10,000 euros for damaging the image of this namesake of Mohamed Merah and 3,000 euros in procedural costs. This photo had been broadcast in the program “66 minutes”. It had been retrieved from Facebook and projected in close-up behind the presenter.
Infringement of image rights
The man explained that this mistake “shattered his professional career” and earned him “threats and insults on the Internet and in particular on Facebook”. And his lawyer pointed out that the photo had been used by other international media, “even in China”. After lengthy proceedings, including a passage through the Court of Cassation, the Paris Court of Appeal finally condemned M6 for infringement of image rights.