In 2017, the war on the inheritance between Laeticia Hallyday and the eldest children of the late rocker Johnny Hallyday hit the headlines. After two years of legal battle and a war via the media, the two clans had finally reached an agreement. And while we thought that this war on inheritance had been long and tumultuous, we remember that another French family battle continues to make the news.
This is the legal battle between those close to Coluche … for more than thirty years! If the famous humorist died in 1986, it was two years after his death that a war broke out, opposing his two sons Marius and Romain Colucci, to his former producer Paul Lederman. The latter having bought in 1988 from Véronique Kantor, Coluche’s first wife, a catalog of sketches and thus freely enjoys the benefits of their distribution … which obviously does not please the sons of the comedian who did not hesitate to sue him.
After years of struggle, the French justice condemned Paul Lederman for the first time in 2017, to pay the children of Coluche, more than 400,000 € in arrears of royalties for the exploitation of twelve sketches of their father. While there still remained the rights of nine shows recorded before the marriage of the comedian and Mrs. Kantor to be settled, the Court of Appeal of Versailles considered that these should remain in the patrimony of the children of Coluche and that they were not to be part of the original financial transaction between Paul Lederman and Véronique Kantor.
A victory for the brothers Romain and Marius Colucci who now have in their hands a catalog of 21 sketches of their late dad. According to an estimate of the court at first instance, this would correspond to a value of one million euros. Despite this decision, Paul Lederman still has the possibility of appealing in cassation, which could revive the case.
Eleanor de la Fontaine