Jean-Michel Jarre scales up challenge over father's will

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Electronic music pioneer Jean-Michel Jarre, who has mounted a legal challenge after being disinherited by his Hollywood composer father, said Friday he will take his case to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

The decision to go to the ECHR comes after Jean-Michel lost his bid in a French court to overturn the will of Oscar-winning Maurice, who wrote the scores for "Doctor Zhivago" and "Lawrence of Arabia."

"My sister Stefanie and I are taking our case to the European Court of Human Rights, over the failure to respect our familial rights and for excessive infringement of our legal security," the French artist wrote in Friday's edition of Le Parisien newspaper.

Maurice died in 2009 in Los Angeles after suffering from cancer.

Johnny Hallyday (R) at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival in 2009. /VCG Photo

Another giant of French music, Johnny Hallyday, also disinherited his children and they have become embroiled in a highly public battle with his widow Laeticia.

In France children's rights to their parents' estate is protected. But Hallyday and his wife had been based in the US for years before his death and he had re-written his will under Californian law.

Jarre's case is similar.

In September 2017, France's Supreme Court ruled in line with the wishes of Maurice, who had bequeathed all his property to his last wife through a "family trust," a valid legal structure under Californian law.

Musician/composer Jean Michel Jarre attends the Urban Anthology and Design Preview Cocktail at Artcurial on February 26, 2017 in Paris, France. /VCG Photo

Jean-Michel, 69, said that "the right to inherit is not only about money, it has ramifications in more important areas such as the protection of family ties, and for creatives, the spiritual rights of artists."

"Forbidding access to a photo or to a personal possession of one's father or mother. That is what is shocking," Jean-Michel said.

He also added that he continued to receive "dozens" of requests to use his father's works, which he was unable to answer.

Over his four-decade career Jean-Michel has performed some of history's largest concerts. He performed in front of 2.5 million people during a concert in Paris in 1990 and a show in Moscow in 1997 drew a crowd of 3.5 million.

Source(s): AFP