French artists protest the Hadopi law

Forty French artists have published a book entitled la Bataille Hadopi, the Hadopi battle. In this book, the artists oppose the recently adopted law that has been designed to protect the creative industries against piracy. The contributing artists believe that cutting people off from such an important resource as the Internet is not a proper way to fight piracy.

One of the contributing artists is Francis Lalanne, a well known (in France, at least) French chansonnier. At the meeting the book was presented to the press, Lalanne announced to release a CD, a movie and a book under an open licence in January 2010.

The French web magazine PC INpact interviewed the singer about his motives. “I will  not allow the idea that one can use me to deprive people of their freedom," says Lalanne “We are talking about human rights here. One cannot oppose these rights with the comfort of an economic sector.” According to Lalanne, the current crisis in the creative industries is caused by other factors than piracy and Hadopi will not solve this crisis. Which other causes those are, Lalanne does not elaborate on.