Treachery in the Rodin Museum 3D scan verdict
Points and comments are a snapshot, not live.
France's highest court ruled Rodin Museum 3D scans are not administrative documents, exempt from FOI law.
After an eight-year legal battle, activist Cosmo Wenman lost his FOI case against the Rodin Museum for 3D point cloud scans of public-domain sculptures. The Conseil d'État ruled the scans are legally indistinguishable from physical reproductions and part of the museum's inalienable collection, not administrative documents. The decision overruled the Paris tribunal's 2023 victory and the CADA's earlier opinion. The court itself raised a novel argument, claiming point clouds are not documents, and ignored extensive evidence that the museum had lied about scan usability. Wenman must pay €3,000.
What commenters are saying
Commenters overwhelmingly sided with Wenman, seeing the ruling as a loss for open access. The dominant sentiment was that the museum fought to protect control over reproductions and gift-shop revenue, not technical barriers. Several commenters noted that French courts showed extreme deference to cultural institutions, with one surprise at the court inventing arguments for the museum. A few commenters cited prior cases like the Nefertiti bust to show a pattern of museums hiding scan data. Two commenters speculated the museum was lazy and knew it would win without strong arguments.