Court was finally in session – and the future of the Angoulême International Comics Festival remains in the balance. Via local newspaper Charente Libré, Wednesday morning representatives of the defunct original festival and the emerging new festival at last met at the Angoulême court to argue their case. After two hours heated back and forth, the presiding judge Clémentine Blanc called time and has set October 14 for the court’s final decision, which will impact the chance of the new event taking place in January 2027.
The case itself concerns whether the Association for the Development of Comics in Angoulême (ADBDA) and its chosen operator, the Morgane Group have engaged in unfair competition and reputational parasitism against original festival owner Association FIBD and its operating partner of 20 years, 9e Art+ in establishing a new event. The latter seems to be demanding at least €300,000 in damages, should the judge rule in their favour.
Originally mounted in February, the court date moved some six times before the court called time on the endless postponements by all sides. It had originally been set to take place in March.
Let’s recap – In November 2025, the original Angoulême International Comics Festival (FIBD) collapsed. In mere weeks the event found itself facing a widespread industry boycott and the withdrawal of public funding (amounting to around 50% of the event budget) following a botched open call process by Angoulême Festival’s owner Association FIBD which returned the operating contract to the widely derided (and scandal prone) 9e Art+. In the heat of the crisis, with talks completely broken down between Association FIBD and the entire industry, the advisory organisation of stakeholders – the Association for the Development of Comics in Angoulême, ADBDA – expanded its membership and remit, intending to found a new festival with a more transparent structure. Following an open call process launched in January, the ADBDA picked the Morgane Group to establish a new event targeting the traditional late January slot in 2027, on a five-year contract.
Élodie Dujon and Renaud Montini, the lawyers respectively representing the Association FIBD and 9e Art+, argued that the ADBDA, and in particular public bodies (which includes the town mayor up through to the French culture ministry), had planned a coup to wrest the fifty-year-old festival away from its owner (the Association FIBD was established by the original founders and volunteers, and it holds the copyrights and trademarks). Further, Montini claimed that the ADBDA had sabotaged the chances of 9e Art+ recouping its losses from the collapse of the January 2026 edition with a 2027 event by creating brand confusion with a new open call and the Morgane Group taking the contract, making sponsorship impossible. Said losses were claimed to be in excess of €1.6 million. The demand is the cancellation of the ADBDA’s call for projects – presumably tearing up the Morgane Group’s contract – and compensation of €300,000.
The Morgane Group’s lawyer François Stefanaggi argued that the new event won’t be a complete replication of the original FIBD, as it will see a new ethos and the addition of improved processes lacking in the old structure – including prize money accompanying major awards, exhibition rights, protections around the handling of sexism and sexual violence, and more. They also had this zinger:
“Following in the wake of 9e Art+ is like following in the wake of a ship that has already sunk.”
9e Art+ were already taken to court after it was revealed that an employee was allegedly fired after disclosing their own sexual assualt at the 2024 event.
The ADBDA’s legal representative Thierry Wickers also highlighted the importance of public bodies in supporting the festival, politically and financially, claiming that such longstanding involvement techniquely makes them – and thus the ADBDA (for which they are members, alongside author groups and publishers) part-owners of the original event.
Wickers:
“[Local, regional and national governments have] been the driving force behind the festival since its inception. We don’t just follow in the wake of a project we’ve played such a big part in creating.”
He also fired back at claims that the ADBDA sabotaged the 2026 festival
“It’s their fault that the FIBD couldn’t take place…No one wanted to come anymore.”
Also, since 9e Art+ went dark before entering bankruptcy proceedings in May,
“The petitioners aren’t planning a festival for 2027. How could they be stripped of an event they aren’t even planning?”
This case, at least in the Angoulême court, should be decided October 14, however the trademark dispute might move the case to the regional capital -Bordeaux – “Festival International de la Bande Dessinée” [aka FIBD, tr. ‘International Comics Festival’] is actually a trademark owned by the Association FIBD. That one could take years to resolve and it is unclear how it may affect the Morgane event – which is seemingly still going ahead as publishers, agents, and guest speakers have all been approached for bookings – though everyone remains unsure if 2027 is definitely going ahead. October should hopefully bring surer answers.
