Neither unfair competition nor defamation. Twice, Wednesday June 7, justice dismissed the Reworld Media group of the complaints it had filed, in the fall of 2021, against the magazine Epsiloon and its founders.
At the origin of his wrath: the creation of the monthly scientific news by former Science & Lifea title in his possession since the acquisition, in 2019, of the publications of Mondadori (Biba, House & Works, Auto More, Psychologies, We both, etc.). At the end of a five-day strike and a showdown with the editorial staff, most of the editors had left the company. “for ethical reasons”recalls Hervé Poirier, former editor-in-chief of science & life and today at the head ofEpsiloon.
Together, the journalists embarked on an adventure which, for Reworld, fell under the “parasitism” and some ” unfair competition “, justifying legal action against Mr. Poirier, his assistant Mathilde Fontez, the publishing company It Is Not Rocket Science and the publisher Unique Héritage Média (UHM). The Nanterre court did not follow the plaintiff, and dismissed all of his claims, ordering him to pay 5,000 euros to the four defenders.
“We are relieved”
About an hour later, this first judgment favorable to Epsiloon, the Paris court, in turn, dismissed Reworld’s defamation complaints filed against the two journalists and UHM. The group blamed Mr. Poirier and Mr.me Make remarks made during the France Inter program The moment M (and partly confirmed on Europe 1), where they had been invited to tell their story. Also ordered to pay the costs, Reworld will have to pay them 2,500 euros each.
For the very young scientific magazine, the sword of Damocles weighed a certain weight, since Reworld claimed around one million euros in damages. “We are relieved to see this long procedure come to an end”welcomes Hervé Poirier, satisfied to be able to “to put one’s energy” at the service of the editorial project. Launched two years ago Epsiloon (15,000 copies sold on newsstands) relies on its sixteen journalists (including eight on permanent contracts) to release twelve issues per year and four special editions. “70% of our 34,000 subscribers are subscribers to these two offers”adds the editor, who announces accounts in the green for four months, after eighteen months of losses.
On May 24, a pre-financing campaign for an annual mook (a publication halfway between a magazine and an illustrated book), The Voyages of Epsiloonwas launched on the crowdfunding platform Ulule. “Pre-purchase is one of the new models of a press that only wants to live thanks to its readers”, adds Hervé Poirier. The development of paid and free newsletters, the presentation on stage of journalistic investigations within the framework of various cultural and scientific events, as well as the launch, in October, of a publishing house around three first works (a beautiful book , the reformatted mook and a book of amusing scientific anecdotes) complete an economic model still under construction.
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