A trade group representing French authors and screenwriters said today that it had launched legal action against Chinese social media group TikTok over alleged copyright infringements.
The Society of Dramatic Authors and Composers (SACD), a non-profit collective that represents around 60,000 writers for cinema, TV, theatre, and comedy shows, said it had filed a suit in Paris, reports AFP.
“TikTok has, for many years, been using protected works from the SACD repertoire without any authorisation and has never offered acceptable compensation for the authors of these works, nor has it removed the works we asked it to,” the SACD said in a statement.
It cited the use of dialogue or extracts from leading French films such as “Asterix and Obelix” or cult comedy “Brice de Nice”, as well as animated series and comedy sketches.
After four years of fruitless discussions, the SADC said it was seeking “redress for the losses suffered by the authors of the works exploited or performed on the platform”.
It also called on TikTok to be transparent with its financial figures to determine the amount owed to the copyright holders of material used on the platform.
Owned by Chinese firm ByteDance, TikTok has its European headquarters in Ireland.
TikTok is facing rising regulatory pressure in Europe, with the platform fined 530 million euros ($600 million) by the EU in May for unlawfully sending the personal data of Europeans to China.
US President Donald Trump also forced through a deal last month that will see the sale of the platform’s American operations to a group of investors allied to the Republican leader.
TikTok did not immediately reply when contacted by our correspondent for comment about the SADC legal action.
A first hearing in the case is scheduled for March 18.
