EntertainmentPosted at: Nov 14 2025 6:31PM


French Author's guild drags TikTok to court over alleged copyright violations

Paris, Nov 14 (UNI) France's premier rights and royalties body, the Society of Dramatic Authors and Composers (SACD), has launched an emergency injunction against TikTok in the Paris Judicial Court, accusing the platform of exploiting its members' works without consent or fair remuneration.
Representing a community of nearly 58,000 screenwriters, playwrights and composers, SACD said its decision comes after four years of fruitless negotiations with the Chinese-owned short-form video giant, discussions that, according to the guild, never yielded a whole licensing framework.
“For many years, TikTok has been using copyrighted works from SACD’s repertoire without any authorization, never offering acceptable compensation to the authors of these works, and has failed to remove the works as requested by us,” said the body.

Snippets of popular French film and TV franchises, such as Brice de Nice, Asterix and Obelix and Kaamelott among others, can be found all over the platform. These titles are among millions of works registered at SACD.
Since its founding in 1829, SACD has been a determined defender of creative rights, especially as digital platforms transform the economics of cultural distribution. It became the first European rights body to forge a residuals agreement with a global streamer when it struck a landmark deal with Netflix in 2014 and has since been a key player in negotiations around cultural investment obligations for streaming platforms, including Amazon and Apple TV .
SACD’s statement on Thursday also noted a lack of transparency from TikTok regarding its financial data.

It explained that as an online content-sharing service, TikTok, was subject to the provisions of the French Intellectual Property Code (CPI) and that as such it was in a position of copyright infringement in the absence of a contract with SACD for works registered with the body, reports DEADLINE.

“SACD is seeking compensation for the harm suffered by the authors of works used or displayed on the platform, as well as disclosure of TikTok’s revenue. Copyright royalties must be determined based on appropriate and reliable financial data.”

A hearing is set for March 2026. UNI NST SSP
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