It’s the first formal statement to come from any of the parties involved since the court verdict was reached earlier this month. The statement reveals Cage and de Fondaumère had objected to seven passages in Mediapart’s article concerning their actions as executives at Quantic Dream, developer of Heavy Rain and Beyond: Two Souls. It also revealed details of offensive photomontages of staff and practices which raised questions under French labour law. Three of the passages were quickly dismissed by the court, while four were examined further. The ruling earlier this month eventually ruled all of these had “a sufficient factual basis”. Specifically, the court found passages relating to de Fondaumière’s dismissal from the studio, subsequent receipt of €100k, and then continued working at the company to all be accurate. The court also found reporting on the studio’s dismissal procedures for other employees to be accurate, as well as a finding that Quantic Dream had not properly declared some payments to staff. Finally, the court found the report was written in “good faith”, was in the public interest, and that Mediapart had approached both Cage and de Fondaumière for their responses. As reported earlier in the week, legal action by Quantic Dream as a studio against Mediapart plus fellow French publication Le Monde also failed. But Cage and de Fondaumière’s personal case against Le Monde did succeed. A report by Solidaires Informatique, translated by Eurogamer, states Le Monde’s case had been weakened as it could not meet a burden of proof for certain elements of its reporting without divulging the identity of its sources.
