Practice What You Preach: French President Accused of Copyright Infringement

French President Nicolas Sarkozy is known for his firm stand against piracy and for rather draconian measures against illegal file sharing (the dreadful three-strikes rule). However, it so happens that the president himself is these days threatned with being sue for copyright infrngement.

The popular indie band MGMT (photo) claims French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his party have used one of their songs without permission (and consequently without paying any compensation) and now wants things set straight.

Although Sarkozy's party, the Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (UMP) said that a €53 fee was actually paid to France's music licensing body, the band is of course far from being happy with this amount especially due to the number of times the track in question has been used.

After admitting to using the song "Kids" for political campaign on several occasions, the politicians said that they were willing to offer the band €1 to solve all the copyright issues. Isn’t that plain generosity?!

Band lawyer Isabelle Wekstein’s reaction is easy to guess: "This offer is disrespectful of the rights of artists and authors. It is insulting," replied Wekstein. "We are dealing with acts of counterfeiting, an infringement of intellectual property."

Pointing to the ironical aspect of the whole situation,Wekstein further continued: "It seems that those who led the charge against Internet users are not the most respectful of copyright."

At present French legislators are preparing the three-strikes-and-you’re-out legislation for final vote.