French ‘baby star’ wins EUR 820,000 in damages

PARIS – A French child star, who shot to fame in the 1990s aged only four but claims his parents stole his earnings, won USD 1 million (EUR 820,000 in damages from record major Sony BMG, court officials said Tuesday.

Now 21, Jordy Lemoine became one of the youngest stars in history in 1992, topping French charts for 15 weeks with a song called "Dur Dur d’Etre Bebe" (It’s Tough Being a Baby), which sold two million copies from Europe to Japan.

But in a 2006 autobiography, Lemoine accused his record producer father of robbing him of his rightful share of the money, by failing to set aside any of the proceeds for his son.

The ex-child star — who made a brief comeback in a French reality TV show in 2005 — filed suit against Sony BMG, seeking EUR 5 million in damages.

In a ruling handed down Friday, a Paris court found Sony guilty of selling records and videos of six of Lemoine’s songs without his consent, ordering it to pay EUR 820,000 in damages.

AFP / Expatica