Maréchal v. Saliba

Expediente y fuentes

Nombre

Maréchal v. Saliba

Cita

Tribunal correctionnel de Tunis, audience du 9 mars 1907, Maréchal c. Saliba

Tribunal

Tribunal correctionnel de Tunis

Instancia

first-instance criminal court

Fechas

Decisión

1907-03-09

Estado

reported full decision in the institutional journal of the Berne Union

Resultado

Saliba was convicted, fined 25 francs, ordered to pay the Maréchal spouses 100 francs in civil damages, and the infringing photographs were confiscated.

Resumen

The photograph was a protected artistic work and Saliba knowingly infringed it.

Antecedentes

The Maréchal spouses had obtained the Bey's authorization to photograph him and created a portrait intended for commercial reproduction. Saliba sold postcard reproductions of their photograph. He continued after a bailiff's warning dated 1906-09-05; a further bailiff's report dated 1907-02-28 recorded sales in his shop.

Historia procesal

The spouses joined the criminal infringement proceeding as civil parties. The published decision resolves guilt, civil damages and confiscation at first instance; no appeal history for this Tunisian decision was published in the located report.

Cuestión jurídica

Whether creation of a photographic plate was an unprotected purely mechanical operation, particularly when photographs were not expressly enumerated in the 1889 decree, or an artistic work reflecting personal creation.

Criterio

The photograph was a protected artistic work and Saliba knowingly infringed it.

Fundamento decisivo

A technically mediated output is protectable when identifiable human choices in pose, composition and light make the production personal rather than purely mechanical.

Límites

Protectorate-era first-instance ruling under the repealed Beylical decree of 15 June 1889; photography, not software or GenAI; no modern test of prompt control; no published appellate treatment located.

Relevancia

doctrina-general

Referencias relacionadas

Peso del precedente

Historical persuasive national authority only. It is not binding current precedent and arose under repealed law, but the full reasoning and result are institutionally reproduced. Integración/votación: The judge names, court composition and vote were not published in the located report; a single first-instance disposition is reproduced.

Fuente

Referencia

Maréchal v. Saliba

Enlace

Consultar fuente

Autoridad

Bureau international de l'Union for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works

Tipo

institutional reproduction of the decision

Fecha de comprobación

2026-08-30

Localizador

printed p 65; PDF pp 8-10, heading, factual recitals, reasoning and dispositif

Verificación documentada

Sí