“We’re going to love each other, To touch the sky, To separate, To burn our wings…”, it’s okay, do you have it in your head? This big hit from the 1980s which helped make singer Gilbert Montagné famous is in reality plagiarism.
The story dates back to 2012 when the Italian singer Gianni Nazzaro (died in July 2021) filed a complaint in his country against Gilbert Montagné and his lyricist Didier Barbelivien, accusing them of having copied his song “Une fille de France”. Italian justice ruled in his favor but Montagné and Barbelivien have always refused to recognize this dispute and to pay the copyright to Michel Cywie and Jean-Max Rivière at the origin of “Une fille de France”.
But now French justice has also ruled on this conflict, as we learn from the economic site L’Informé. Seized by the Italian courts, the Paris Court of Appeal ruled on the case on October 9 and rendered a judgment in favor of Gianni Nazzaro. Gilbert Montagné and Didier Barbelivien will therefore have to pay 30,000 euros in damages to the heirs of the Italian singer as compensation (Italian justice demanded 1.67 million euros) and henceforth renounce their royalties on this song.
Ironically, Gilbert Montagné filed a complaint in 2009 against the restaurant brand Flunch whom he accused of plagiarism of this same hit with the use of the slogan “We’re going to fluncher” in the advertisements. At the time, the singer had won the legal battle and was compensated to the author by… 30,000 euros.
