French Supreme Court says bank had right to stop taking payments for file-storage platform on piracy grounds
The French Supreme Court has ruled that Société Générale was justified in terminating payment processing services for file-storage platform 1fichier.com due to concerns over copyright infringement. This decision concludes a decade-long legal battle initiated in 2015 when the bank ceased its services, citing the platform’s insufficient measures against illicit content. The court found that 1fichier.com failed to uphold its contractual obligation to prevent the storage or publication of illegal material, thereby validating Société Générale’s contract termination. This outcome supports the ‘follow the money’ strategy employed by copyright holders to combat online piracy by targeting financial service providers linked to infringing platforms.
