The Paris High Court has dismissed most of the complaintslodged by a group of families seeking damages for their children's roles inNicolas Philibert's award-winning 2002 documentary Etre Et Avoir .

The families attacked the filmmakers for illegal use oftheir children's images as well as an indemnity tied to the commercial use ofthe images. They also contended that the children should be considered"co-authors" of the film and were outraged that images of the families at the2002 Cannes Film Festival were then used as part of the DVD bonus features. Thefamilies were each asking for $25,891 (Euros 20,000).

Ultimately, the High Court threw out most of the suit andawarded a total of $13,593 (Euros 10,500) to be divided amongst thecomplainants with regard to the DVD bonuses.

Etre EtAvoir was a sleeperhit in 2002 with roughly 2m admissions. Previously, the film's main character,school teacher George Lopez, also lodged an unsuccessful suit against thefilmmakers.