Enlarge image
French presidential candidate Éric Zemmour: Currently at 13 percent in polls
Photo: SAMEER AL-DOUMY / AFP
The radical right-wing French presidential candidate Éric Zemmour was convicted on Friday of violating copyright law.
According to the judgment, which is available to the AFP news agency, he has to pay 70,000 euros to the plaintiffs, who include the Gaumont film group and the filmmakers Luc Besson and François Ozon.
Zemmour had illegally used third-party footage, including from the AFP news agency, for a video clip in which he had announced his candidacy.
In the video, Zemmour could be seen in front of a wall of books, reading a text and speaking into a historical-looking microphone, as if he wanted to visually tie in with a speech by the founder of the republic, Charles de Gaulle.
In between, video snippets could be seen which, in Zemmour's opinion, show the picture of a happier France in the past.
Contemporary France is illustrated by scenes of fights and attacks.
In polls, Zemmour is currently at 13 percent, level with the right-wing conservative candidate Valérie Pécresse.
He represents racist and nationalist positions and has already been sentenced several times for incitement to hatred.
till/AFP
