In one of our briefs in the Conseil d'Etat we asserted (and, I think, well supported) that the museum's refusal to communicate its scans to me constituted an infringement of my freedom of expression as defined in Article 10 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. In some circumstances, this opens up the possibility of appealing the CE's decision in the European Court of Human Rights.
We have not done a deep analysis of that possibility in light of the specific way the CE handled the case. It's an open question. However, given our limited time and resources, it is unlikely we would have the means to pursue it further.
We omitted this Article 10 argument until the very end, since from the outset I wanted to take an "everyman" position without any special circumstances or pleas about end-uses. When we did finally present the Article 10 free expression argument, we detailed my own work and intentions for disseminating the scans to the public.
I can tell you that the Article 10 argument seemed to really alarm the Rodin Museum. They responded to it at length. I would say they did a poor job of responding to it, but they certainly seemed concerned by it.
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It may be possible, but unlikely.
In one of our briefs in the Conseil d'Etat we asserted (and, I think, well supported) that the museum's refusal to communicate its scans to me constituted an infringement of my freedom of expression as defined in Article 10 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. In some circumstances, this opens up the possibility of appealing the CE's decision in the European Court of Human Rights.
We have not done a deep analysis of that possibility in light of the specific way the CE handled the case. It's an open question. However, given our limited time and resources, it is unlikely we would have the means to pursue it further.
We omitted this Article 10 argument until the very end, since from the outset I wanted to take an "everyman" position without any special circumstances or pleas about end-uses. When we did finally present the Article 10 free expression argument, we detailed my own work and intentions for disseminating the scans to the public.
I can tell you that the Article 10 argument seemed to really alarm the Rodin Museum. They responded to it at length. I would say they did a poor job of responding to it, but they certainly seemed concerned by it.
You can read our Article 10 argument here, in English or French, in sections IV and V: https://cosmowenman.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/040_20250...