French magazine fined for article with ‘tips’ for illegal downloading

A judge fined the French magazine Téléchargement of 10,000 euros for publishing an article mentioning various tools and websites where illegal content could be downloaded. Such articles may be punishable under French law.

Téléchargement, French for “download,” recently featured on one of its covers a pirate skull and a headline promising the best software and websites to “download for free,” according to French website Nextimpact. The article in question mentioned a number of popular bittorrent clients and websites, among other things. A number of Google search methods were also described that can be used to find illegal content.

The article went too far for SCPP, an interest group for the French music industry. They took the makers of the magazine to court because Téléchargement had ‘crossed a line’. In the eyes of SCPP, the magazine incited illegal downloading. Under French copyright law, it is illegal to ‘deliberately’ incite the download of illegal content with penalties of up to €300,000 in fines or up to three years in prison.

The judge agrees with the SCPP and imposed a fine of 10,000 euros on Téléchargement, approximately the profit that would have been achieved with the relevant circulation of more than six thousand magazines. Téléchargement will not appeal.