Jean-Luc Godard Aids Photographer in File-Sharing Case.
(To be read aloud in Alphaville computer voice….)
While Mr. Godard’s views on intellectual property are widely shared on the libertarian fringes of the Internet, they might seem surprising coming from a director who, under French law, retains editorial control over his work, and derives financial benefit from it.
Yet Mr. Godard, a pioneer of the New Wave of French cinema in the 1960s, whose films skewered the conventions of bourgeois society, clearly still delights in provoking the establishment, even if it could cost him money.
Mr. Godard’s support for Mr. Climent comes at a time when the debate over file-sharing is growing ever more politically charged in France. Mr. Climent was convicted under longstanding copyright legislation; but now the authorities are set to begin enforcement of a tough new law, under which the Internet connections of persistent pirates could be suspended.
“…yer gonna lay off the file-sharers, see?”
