French court rules against heir blocking Fautrier catalogue raisonné

On May 7, 2026, the Paris Judicial Court ruled that a universal legatee of artist Jean Fautrier abused copyright by opposing the publication of the catalogue raisonné for personal reasons. The court applied Article L. 122-9 of the French Intellectual Property Code, which sanctions notorious abuse in the exercise of posthumous exploitation rights. The legatee had blocked the publication by Éditions Norma, scheduled for 2023, citing a missing index and claiming eight works were stolen from Fautrier's last companion in 2021. The judges found that the opposition was not motivated by the interest of the works but by the legatee's personal property interests. The legatee was ordered to pay €39,000 in damages for abusive litigation, and the author Marie-José Lefort received €1,000 in symbolic damages. The court emphasized that heirs are guardians of the artist's legacy and cannot use copyright to defend private material interests.