French consumer body CLCV sues Netflix

French not-for-profit consumer organisation the CLCV is suing Netflix, claiming that the subscription video service does not comply with French law. 

In a statement issued today, the CLCV said it is suing Netflix before a Paris court, accusing the service, which is running its French operations from Luxembourg, of not abiding by French consumer laws.

Though the CLCV said that it welcomes new entrants into the French audiovisual sector, its complaint with Netflix partly rests on the latter’s contract terms, which it said can be changed without prior notification to the consumer.

The CLCV said that Netflix does not provide information about a guaranteed minimum level of quality, or about refund arrangements if the picture quality was sub-standard.

It also complained that certain Netflix conditions referred back to English text, rather than French – something that the CLCV said was “more symbolic but potentially significant.”

Netflix went live in France in September as part of six new European launches. The other countries where it went live were Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium and Luxembourg.

In France, SFR, Bouygues Telecom and Orange have all signed deals with Netflix to offer the SVoD service via their TV boxes. Free and Numericable are the main distributors yet to offer the service.