French to review copyright laws

Apple has been given at least a temporary reprieve on a ruling that forced it to make music from its iTunes online shop playable on any device, while the French government sorts out its copyright laws.

Currently, music bought at Apple's iTunes shop can only be played on that company's iPod player. Last month, both houses of the French parliament, the Senate and the National Assembly, passed copyright legislation which sought to force online shops to sell music that would play on any device and devices that played music from any other shop.

Although modifications to the law as it passed through parliament would have enabled Apple to bypass it with the permission of the music copyright holder, the French Constitutional Council has rejected the legislation outright.

The Constitutional Council reviews all laws after they have been passed to ensure that they do not conflict with the French constitution. One of the protections afforded by the constitution is a protection of property, and it was on this basis that the Council rejected some aspects of the law.

The whole law may now have to be rewritten and brought before parliament again. A 12 page legal finding was published by the Council late last week and it referred principally to the 1789 Declaration on Human Rights, part of which protects property.

The document said that any companies forced to make music playable on any device should receive compensation because the firm would be sharing copy protection technology it had built itself.

However, Apple may not be entirely free of the original demands from the French parliament. The constitutional review did not throw out the principle of enforced interoperability. This means Apple may still have to allow others some access to its iTunes system.