French Cultural Sectors Urge Balance Between AI Support and Creator Protection

A coalition of cultural industries calls for policies that back French AI players like Mistral while safeguarding the rights of authors, journalists, publishers and the creative economy.

On October 28, during a visit to the French AI champion, Gabriel Attal declared his support for a company whose success is a matter of sovereignty for France and Europe. That's all well and good. But just a few months earlier, in June, when the National Assembly was reviewing the Darcos bill on creators' rights in the face of generative AI, 110 amendments—almost all from the [Ensemble pour la République] group led by Gabriel Attal—prevented the bill from coming to a vote.

The statement from the Renaissance candidate for the 2027 presidential election raises questions. Where does he draw the line between AI and respect for copyright and related rights? Between the necessary support for innovation and defending France as a major cultural power? If France is Mistral, it is also its authors, artists, filmmakers, musicians, journalists, publishers, and producers. Its books, films, series, works of art, songs, and newspapers have global reach. Yet these works are being used, without authorization or compensation, to train AI models that then generate competing content. Those who invested their time, money, and talent are seeing others reap the rewards of their efforts. This is a situation that should outrage anyone aspiring to lead France.

Creative work sustains an entire economy. Authors, producers, publishers, distributors, and retailers—all depend on this value chain. It supports both city centers and rural areas, drives employment, and ensures broad access to culture. According to Bpifrance, France's public investment bank, the cultural and creative industries generate €143 billion in added value and 1.7 million jobs.

Beyond the economy, our entire social model is at stake. The diversity of creative output, the vitality of our language, and the pluralism of information all nourish our identity and democracy. The French people are right to expect that the rise of AI should not come at the expense of this shared heritage.

We therefore reject this false choice. France does not have to choose between technological power and cultural power. Technological sovereignty cannot be built at the expense of our cultural and informational sovereignty. If we try to win the AI race by undermining those who create our works, our stories, and our information, France will lose another part of its strength.

Striking this balance was precisely the aim of the bill proposed by Senator [Les Indépendants] Laure Darcos, whose review in the National Assembly was postponed to November 19, in the Socialist group's parliamentary slot. The principle is simple: when there are indications that a work or protected content has likely been used by an AI system, and given the opacity of training data, a simple presumption should allow rights holders to enforce intellectual property, under judicial oversight.

This is not about banning AI or stifling research and innovation. The goal is to restore balance between those who develop the models and those whose works help fuel them. The law is not the enemy of negotiation; it is the precondition for negotiation when the imbalance between parties makes any discussion meaningless.

Since the deadlock in June, stakeholders in culture and information have proposed a compromise that clearly refocuses the measure on generative AI—those systems that produce cultural and informational content—without hindering other advances in research and innovation.

Our opponents raise the specter of a flood of lawsuits and unfair competition that would hurt French companies. Neither argument holds up to scrutiny. Far from encouraging litigation, the bill aims to foster licensing agreements by restoring the conditions for balanced negotiation between AI providers and rights holders. In fact, it is the current lack of transparency that is likely to fuel legal disputes.

As for the claim that only French companies would be affected, that ignores the scope of the measure: it will also apply to foreign providers operating in our market, as the Conseil d'Etat has explicitly confirmed. American and Chinese tech giants must be subject to the same rules and respect creators' rights. Experience shows that a lack of regulation primarily benefits large foreign tech players.

Gabriel Attal and his group must now end their ambiguity and silence and make a choice: do they want to seek the balance that the public interest demands between innovation and creation, and join the proposed compromise? Or do they believe that supporting AI champions should take precedence over protecting creative work, press pluralism, and intellectual property, by maintaining their amendments and their strategy of parliamentary obstruction?

Making France the home of artificial intelligence is certainly an ambition. But a presidential candidate should not forget that our technological strength and our cultural and informational strength must reinforce each other—and that it is his responsibility to defend both.

The full list of signatories:

ADAGP – Society of Authors in the Graphic and Visual Arts – Marie-Anne Ferry-Fall, CEO

ADAMI – Collective management organization for performers' rights – Elizabeth Le Hot, CEO

APIG – Alliance of General Information Press – Pierre Petillault, CEO

CFC – French Center for Copying Rights – Sabine Madeleine, CEO

CPE – Permanent Council of Writers – Séverine Weiss, President

CSDEM – Music Publishing Trade Association – Agnès Defaux, General Delegate

DVP – Press Related Rights – Jean-Marie Cavada, President

EUROCINEMA – Association of Film and Television Producers – Juliette Prissard, General Delegate

FFAP – French Federation of Press Agencies – Florence Braka, CEO

FNPS – National Federation of Specialized Information Press – Jean-Christophe Raveau, President

LaScam – Multimedia Authors' Society – Hervé Rony, CEO

Les Voix – Professional Association of Voice Actors – Patrick Kuban, Founder

PROCIREP – Society of Film and Television Producers – Idzard van der Puyl, General Delegate

SACD – Society of Dramatic Authors and Composers – Pascal Rogard, CEO

SACEM – Society of Authors, Composers and Music Publishers – Cécile Rap-Veber, CEO

SEPM – Magazine Publishers' Union – Cécile Durand-Girard, CEO

SGDL – Society of Literary Authors – Patrice Locmant, CEO

SNAC – National Union of Authors and Composers – Maïa Bensimon, General Delegate

SNE – National Publishing Union – Renaud Lefebvre, CEO

SNEP – National Union of Phonographic Publishing – Alexandre Lasch, CEO

SOFIA – French Society for Authors' Written Rights – Geoffroy Pelletier, Director

SPIIL – Union of Independent Online News Publishers – Cécile Dubois and Laurent Mauriac, Co-Presidents

U2C – Union of Composers – Joshua Darche, President

UDS – Union of Scenographers – Camille Dugas, President

UNAC – National Union of Authors and Composers – Laurent Juillet, President

UPP – Union of Professional Photographers – Matthieu Baudeau, President

This article was automatically translated from French. Read the original version: https://www.journaldunet.com/adtech/1557873-mistral-c-est-la-france-la-france-c-est-mistral/