French Consumer Law is a comprehensive and comparative overview of French and EU law in this field, covering: advertising, unfair commercial practices, conditions for the validity of contracts, unfair terms, product conformity, latent defects, product safety.

French Consumer Law

The obligation to comply with a notice period laid down in paragraph V-4 of the standard form agreement which has become the norm in advertising is applicable in the absence of any express contrary intention  by the parties.
However, the notice period can only be enforced where the advertiser is informed of its existence. The advertiser must not only know of the standard notice period relied upon  …

Enforceability of standard notice

Paragraph V-4 of the standard form agreement of 19 September 1961 expressly excludes from the scope of application of the usual notice period fixed-term contracts or those which relate to the performance of a specific work. The notice period applies automatically when the contract is expressly stipulated to be of no fixed duration . In order to avoid application of the standard notice period, advertisers often invoke the absence of stipulation as to the duration of the contract and the ad hoc nature of the mission entrusted to the agency. 

When the relations between the parties are, without any specific limit in time, characterized by a succession of commissions, the court will readily apply the standard form agreement 19 September 1961 if it is established that the agency is vested with a complete, comprehensive and exclusive mission to manage an advertisement budget . When the contract is open-ended, even if the exclusivity of the mission is a decisive criterion, the standard notice may be advantageous to an agency with a mission, which although not exclusive, covers the management of the whole of a budget and involves the development of a strategy . Thus, the management of a specific branch of the advertiser's publicity requirements  or a mission consisting of recommending and justifying actions to be taken and carrying them out , come within the scope of application of the right to notice. A waiver of the benefit of the six months' prior notice can only be accepted if it is expressed in a clear and unambiguous manner . Damages may be awarded for non-compliance with the notice period, which can be equated, where applicable, to a compensatory indemnity corresponding to the total payment that the agency would have received had the contract been terminated correctly . 

Conversely, when the mission is expressly entrusted for a fixed period , is purely a one-off , is carried out by an external consultant , is limited to placing job offers in various media  or aims to ensure the internal communications of the undertaking , the standard notice period need not apply. However, where the agency is unable to benefit from the standard notice period as it does not provide all the services of a communications consultancy service, it may rely on the ordinary legal notice period in accordance with the provisions of Article L. 442-1, II of the Commercial Code, which imposes the respect of a reasonable period of notice in the case of an established commercial relationship . 

CA Paris, 1 March 1994, LawLex200300003176JBJ.

Cass. com., 25 January 1972, LawLex200300002918JBJ: for an agency responsible for the overall operations of advertising, sales promotion and public relations; CA Paris, 21 May 1991, LawLex200300001391JBJ; 21 November 1991, LawLex200300001402JBJ; 7 July 1995, LawLex200300001373JBJ; CA Lyon, 1 March 1996, LawLex200300001422JBJ; CA Paris, 20 December 1996, LawLex200300001433JBJ; 7 September 2000, LawLex200300001945JBJ : a communications consultant having exercised a permanent, continuous, non-ad hoc mission, has a right to 6 months' notice of termination.

CA Versailles, 8 June 2000, LawLex200300001487JBJ.

Cass. com., 2 March 1999, LawLex200300002917JBJ, upholding CA Caen, 20 June 1996, LawLex200300001432JBJ; CA Versailles, 15 March 2016, LawLex201600000723JBJ.

CA Douai, 6 April 2000, LawLex200300000666JBJ.

CA Paris, 31 May 1995, LawLex200300001409JBJ.

CA Versailles, 20 November 1997, LawLex200300002942JBJ; CA Paris, 11 May 2001, LawLex200300003097JBJ: an advertising contract for the designing of an overall advertising policy intended to enhance a trade name as a fashion brand, without any specified duration, is deemed to be concluded for an undetermined duration and may not therefore be terminated without a prior notice of six months.

CA Paris, 6 June 1997, LawLex200300003095JBJ.

CA Paris, 20 December 1996, LawLex200300001433JBJ, cited above.

CA Paris, 21 May 1991, LawLex200300001391JBJ, cited above.

CA Paris, 10 November 2000, LawLex200300002359JBJ.

Cass. com., 21 March 1995, LawLex200300002916JBJ upholding CA Paris, 18 September 1992, LawLex200300001403JBJ: purchase of advertising space; T. com. Nanterre, 13 June 1995, LawLex200300001411JBJ; CA Paris, 29 September 1995, LawLex200300001541JBJ: launch of magazine; 10 November 2000, LawLex200300002359JBJ: the parties had agreed on a fixed term for their relations; CA Versailles, 15 March 2016, LawLex201600000723JBJ.

CA Paris, 23 February 1996, LawLex200300003195JBJ.

Agency's mission

The obligation to comply with a notice period laid down in paragraph V-4 of the standard form agreement which has become the norm in advertising is applicable in the absence of any express contrary intention  by the parties.

However, the notice period can only be enforced where the advertiser is informed of its existence. The advertiser must not only know of the standard notice period relied upon but also behave accordingly . If this is not the case, the advertiser is only obliged to observe an appropriate period to allow the agency to reorganize . On the other hand, the advertiser may not claim to have been unaware of the practice in the advertising sector when it has regular relations with large advertising agencies  or has an internal communications department with a large budget . The Court of Appeal in Versailles has held that as the standard agreement had been published in the Official Journal, legally those used to dealing with advertising professionals ought to be aware of it . 

CA Paris, 13 June 2019, LawLex201900000801JBJ, holding that where the parties have not expressly disregarded the provisions of the 1961 model contract on prior notice, an advertiser who terminates the contract with his advertising agency must give six months' notice.

Cass. com., 16 December 1997, LawLex200300002919JBJ: such was not the case here as the advertiser concerned was not part of the circle of advertising professionals or an habitual partner of any of them; 4 January 2000, LawLex200300002920JBJ; CA Versailles, 19 March 1998, LawLex200300001436JBJ.

CA Versailles, 6 May 2003, LawLex200300004022JBJ.

T. com. Bobigny, 5 March 2004, LawLex200500007449JBJ.

CA Versailles, 5 February 2009, LawLex200900003285JBJ.

French Consumer Law

46. Enforceability of standard notice

Demandez un accès gratuit
au contenu exclusif Livv – juristes d’entreprise

Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

46. Enforceability of standard notice

Demandez un accès gratuit au contenu exclusif Livv – juristes d’entreprise

Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

Demandez un accès gratuit
au contenu exclusif Livv – juristes d’entreprise