Copyright Cheats Face the Music in France

The curtain has risen on the third act of one of the most ambitious French musical productions, one whose goal is to end digital piracy.

More than two years after France approved a tough crackdown on copyright cheats, the agency that oversees it sent its first cases to the courts last week. Some repeat offenders may temporarily be cut off from the Internet. Studies show that the appeal of piracy has waned in France since the so-called three-strikes law, hailed by the music and movie industries and hated by advocates of an open Internet, went into effect. Digital sales, which were slow to get started in France, are growing. Music industry revenues are starting to stabilize. “I think more and more French people understand that artists should get paid for their work,” said Pascal Nègre, president of Universal Music France. “I think everybody has a friend who has received an e-mail. This creates a buzz. There is an educational effect.” But the curtain has not yet come down for the fallen file-sharers. As a presidential election nears, opposition to the law is heating up.