Teaching exception

The teaching exception allows extracts from works to be performed or reproduced for the sole purpose of illustration for teaching and research, without the author’s authorisation. It is provided for in Article L. 122-5, 3°, e) of the French Intellectual Property Code and has its European basis in Article 5(3)(a) of Directive 2001/29/EC, supplemented by Article 5 of Directive (EU) 2019/790 for digital and cross-border uses.

Conditions of the exception

The French provision makes the exception subject to several cumulative conditions, which may be set out as follows:

• the use concerns extracts from works, excluding works designed for teaching purposes and sheet music,
• its sole purpose is illustration for teaching and research, excluding any playful or recreational activity,
• the audience is composed mainly of pupils, students, teachers or researchers directly concerned,
• the use gives rise to no commercial exploitation,
• it is compensated by a negotiated lump-sum remuneration.

The author’s name and the source must be indicated. The lump-sum remuneration is paid to collective management organisations under agreements concluded between the State and the representatives of rightholders, which specify the quotas of extracts allowed for each category of works.

Interaction with EU law

Directive (EU) 2019/790 requires Member States to provide a mandatory exception for the digital use of works for the purpose of illustration for teaching, under the responsibility of an educational establishment, on its premises or through a secure electronic environment accessible only to pupils and teachers. It allows Member States to disapply the exception where suitable licences are easily available on the market, and it provides that the use is deemed to occur in the Member State where the establishment is based, which settles the cross-border question raised by distance learning. The French transposition, carried out by ordinance in 2021, inserted into the Code a provision specific to digital uses in teaching.

Limits in practice

The exception covers neither commercial vocational training, nor textbooks and resources designed for teaching, nor the reproduction of a work in full outside the cases allowed by the agreements for short works and images. Private training providers must therefore obtain licences, in particular from the organisation in charge of reprography. The use of extracts in material that is subsequently disseminated online to the public also exceeds the scope of the exception.

Key points

The teaching exception covers extracts from works used to illustrate teaching or research before an audience drawn from the educational community, without commercial exploitation and against a negotiated lump-sum remuneration. It excludes teaching works and sheet music. Before using a work in training, check the status of the body, the nature of the extract and the existence of an applicable agreement, then credit the author and the source.

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This glossary entry is general in scope and does not constitute legal advice.

Dhenne Avocats is a patent litigation firm. Matters outside that field, such as trade marks, designs, copyright and IT contracts, are handled by practitioners the firm works with regularly, and by the firm itself when they arise in a patent dispute.

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