The Aix-en-Provence Court of Appeal confirmed, in a judgment consulted on Wednesday by AFP, the conviction for "
parasitism
" of the city of Béziers against the mural painter Jean Pierson.
Justice considered that the municipality took unfair advantage of a fresco tour project proposed by the artist in May 2015. Three weeks later, the municipal council - chaired by Robert Ménard - had launched a call for tenders for a such a course, finally won in October by another association.
The tribunal de grande instance of Marseille had condemned the city of Béziers for parasitism on June 13, 2019, inflicting 50,000 euros in damages.
The artist's claims for copyright infringement had, however, been rejected by the courts.
In its judgment dated December 15, the Aix-en-Provence Court of Appeal confirmed this judgment, however reducing the amount of damages to 20,000 euros.
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In his complaint filed after the delivery of the competing work, the muralist had judged that the frescoes finally produced had been made
"with the same gables and according to the same route and the same theme"
as those they had proposed in his project .
.
“His project is what?
It is to propose a series of frescoes in Béziers.
What originality?
That's what all cities do!
, had reacted at the time the mayor of the city, Robert Ménard.
Recalling that
"parasitism"
consists in
"taking advantage of the work or the notoriety of others for the purpose of enrichment"
, the Marseilles court confirmed that the municipality had taken advantage of the work of Jean Pierson.
According to the judgment,
"it results from the comparison between the file submitted by Mr. Pierson and the course of frescoes (finally) carried out an almost perfect similarity between the places of affixing of the frescoes and the trompe-l'oeil"
.
In addition,
Jean Pierson's
"prospecting work" has
"made it possible to identify without delay and without cost the sites that can accommodate the various works to be installed"
, continue the magistrates.
