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France's top court puts Rodin 3D scans beyond freedom-of-information law

France's top court puts Rodin 3D scans beyond freedom-of-information law

Rule Changes

Conseil d'État rules scans are part of the museum's inalienable collection

October 13th, 2026: Communia panel takes up the Rodin case

Overview

Updated Oct 21

France's highest administrative court ruled in December 2025 that the Rodin Museum's 3D scans of Auguste Rodin's sculptures belong to the museum's collection, not to the public record. The ruling, case n° 487950 and published in the Recueil Lebon, means freedom-of-information law does not apply to the files.

Because the scans sit outside that law, the museum sets the terms for seeing or licensing them, including for research, 3D modelling and AI training, the law firm DDG wrote in an analysis. Open-culture group Communia scheduled an online panel on the case for 13 October, with Wenman, his lawyer Alexis Fitzjean Ó Cobhthaigh and Creative Commons policy director Brigitte Vézina.

Why it matters

If 3D scans of public-domain art are a museum's inalienable collection, French citizens have no right to access their own cultural heritage in digital form.

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Key Indicators

9 years
Length of the legal fight
Wenman began requesting the Rodin scans in 2017; the Conseil d'État ruled in December 2025.
€3,000
Costs Wenman was ordered to pay
The Conseil d'État ordered him to pay the museum's legal costs when it rejected his appeal.
€1,500
Compensation awarded to Wenman
The Paris administrative court awarded this on 21 April 2023; the museum ignored the order.

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People Involved

Cosmo Wenman
Cosmo Wenman
Art advocate and lead plaintiff
Lost at the Conseil d'État; ordered to pay €3,000 in costs
 Alexis Fitzjean Ó Cobhthaigh
Alexis Fitzjean Ó Cobhthaigh
Paris-based civil rights advocate and Wenman's lawyer
Represented the plaintiffs through the French courts

Organizations Involved

Rodin Museum
Rodin Museum
National museum
Won at the Conseil d'État; argues scans are part of its inalienable collection

Paris museum holding Auguste Rodin's estate and sculptures.
Conseil d'État
Conseil d'État
Highest administrative court
Ruled against Wenman

France's highest court for administrative justice.
CADA (Commission on Access to Administrative Documents)
CADA (Commission on Access to Administrative Documents)
Government FOI commission
Sided with Wenman; opinion later contradicted

The French government's expert body on freedom of information.
AT
Administrative Tribunal of Paris
Court
Ruled in Wenman's favor on 21 April 2023; its point-cloud exception was upheld on appeal

The lower court that first heard the case.

Timeline

2017 October 2026

7 events Latest: October 13th, 2026 · 4 weeks ago
Tap a bar to jump to that date

  1. Communia panel takes up the Rodin case

    Latest Event

    Open-culture group Communia scheduled an online session on access to public-domain 3D scans for 13 October, with Wenman, lawyer Alexis Fitzjean Ó Cobhthaigh, INNO3's Benjamin Jean and Creative Commons' Brigitte Vézina, moderated by Camille Françoise.

  2. Wenman publishes account of the fight

    Statement

    Wenman's essay 'Treachery in the Rodin Museum 3D scan verdict' goes up on Substack and is widely shared.

  3. Conseil d'État rules scans are collection

    Legal

    France's highest administrative court says the scans are part of the inalienable collection, not administrative documents. Wenman is ordered to pay €3,000. The decision is published in the Recueil Lebon.

  4. Wenman appeals point-cloud exception

    Legal

    Wenman appeals the point-cloud carve-out to the Conseil d'État. The first mémoire is registered on 4 September 2023. The museum and ministry ignore the disclosure order rather than appeal it.

  5. Paris court orders scan release

    Legal

    Administrative Tribunal rules most scan formats are administrative documents, orders their release and awards €1,500. It excepts plaintext point-cloud files.

  6. Coalition files suit in Paris

    Legal

    Wenman, Communia, Wikimédia France and La Quadrature du Net sue after the museum rejects FOI requests.

  7. Wenman begins requesting Rodin's 3D scans

    Legal

    Art advocate Cosmo Wenman starts asking the Paris museum for scans of Rodin's public-domain sculptures. CADA later finds they must be disclosed.

Scenarios

1

Wenman takes case to the European Court of Human Rights

Possible Resolves by End of 2027

Discussed by: Legal observers and open-culture advocates following the case

With French avenues exhausted, Wenman could file an application with the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, arguing that denial of access to publicly funded scans violates his rights. The court's case law on access to information is limited, so success is uncertain. The museum's failure to follow the lower court's order could also feature in any filing.

2

French law changes to cover 3D scans

Unlikely Resolves by End of 2028

Discussed by: Open-culture groups including Communia and Wikimédia France

The Conseil d'État decision creates a gap in French FOI law. Advocacy groups could push the legislature to amend the law to explicitly classify digitized collection records as administrative documents. A change would require a government or parliamentary initiative, which is unlikely in the near term.

3

Rodin Museum releases scans amid public pressure

Possible Resolves by End of 2027

Discussed by: Open-culture advocates who note public pressure has moved museums before

The negative attention from Wenman's essay could push the museum to voluntarily release scans, following institutions that publish open 3D data. The museum's revenue from licensed reproductions makes voluntary release less likely, but a partial release of lower-resolution files is possible.

4

Another French museum refuses 3D scans, citing the Rodin ruling

Likely Resolves by Q2 2027

Discussed by: Open-culture groups and lawyers following the decision

The Conseil d'État's reasoning gives French museums an argument that digitised reproductions belong to their collections rather than to the public record. If another institution turns down a scan request on that basis, the precedent reaches past Rodin.

Historical Context

2 moments from history that rhyme with this story — and how they unfolded.

February 1999

Bridgeman Art Library v. Corel (1999)

A New York federal court ruled that exact photographic copies of two-dimensional public-domain artworks lack enough originality for copyright. Judge Lewis Kaplan found the images were essentially 'slavish copies' with no creative input.

Then

The Bridgeman Art Library could not claim copyright over its reproductions of public-domain paintings in the US.

Now

US law now treats faithful reproductions of public-domain works as free; museums cannot control them by copyright.

Why this matters now

The US freed reproductions; France's Conseil d'État placed them in the museum's inalienable collection. The two countries reached opposite conclusions on the same question.

July 2009

National Portrait Gallery vs Wikipedia (2009)

Wikipedia user Derrick Coetzee uploaded high-resolution scans of public-domain paintings from the London National Portrait Gallery's website. The gallery demanded he remove them, claiming copyright in the scans.

Then

The Wikimedia Foundation stood behind Coetzee; the gallery did not sue, and the images stayed online.

Now

The episode became a reference point for museum claims over digital surrogates of public-domain works.

Why this matters now

It shows the recurring pattern where museums claim control over scans of public-domain works. The Rodin case extends that claim from images to 3D data.

Sources

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+8
Cosmo Wenman (Substack) Hacker News hn.today HN Distilled ZeroHour Conseil d'État Lexbase Le Journal des Arts TAoMA Partners DDG Jurisfac LegalPlanet LinuxFr.org COMMUNIA Association