The average college student and French President Nicolas Sarkozy have more in common than just staring at supermodels all day. The French President has been sued by an independent band for copyright infringement. This case based on the grounds that he used their song in his campaigns without permission. The event comes after an interesting effort by Sarkozy and the French Government against copyright infringers:

He has pressured and passed the first “three strikes” law that gets a user disconnected based on three formal copyright complaints. Arguably, the three strikes provision was born in France and has since spread throughout the world due to the major copyright industry trying to get other countries to adopt the laws. In fact, the French administration pressured the European union to adopt the three strikes policy…

The French President tried to settle the issue out of court by paying the band one Euro (not a typo). Needless to say the band rejected the settlement and is pursing the legal battle. Even though Sarkozy broke copyright laws a little differently than the average college student, it is pretty embarrassing for him and the “three strikes” program.

So, don’t follow the example of world leaders. Check out Onward State’s guide to legal options of music listening; Life After Ruckus and don’t get sued.