A droit (French for right or Law) is a legal title, claim or due.

Droits of admiralty (English law)[link]

The term is used in English law in the phrase "droits of admiralty". This refers to certain customary rights or perquisites, formerly belonging to the Lord High Admiral, but now to the crown, for public purposes and paid into the Exchequer. These droits (see also wreck) consisted of flotsam, jetsam, ligan - (goods (or wreckage) on the sea bed that is attached to a buoy so that it can be recovered), treasure, deodand, derelict (maritime), within the admiral's jurisdiction; all fines, forfeitures, ransoms, recognizanees and pecuniary punishments; all sturgeons, whales, porpoises, dolphins, grampuses and such large fishes; all ships and goods of the enemy coming into any creek, road or port, by durance or mistake; all ships seized at sea, salvage, etc., with the share of prizes such shares being afterwards called "tenths", in imitation of the French, who gave their admiral a droit de dixième. The droits of admiralty were definitely surrendered for the benefit of the public by Prince George of Denmark, when Lord High Admiral of England in 1702. American law does not recognize any such droits, and the disposition of captured property is regulated by various acts of Congress.

Other legal connexions (French law, etc.)[link]

The term droit is also used in various legal connexions (i.e., French law), such as the droit of angary, the droit d'achat (right of pre-emption) in the case of contraband, the feudal droit de bris (see wreck), the droit de regale or ancient royal privilege of claiming the revenues and patronage of a vacant bishopric, and the feudal droites of seignory generally.

In French, droit can mean the whole body of the Law, as in the motto "dieu et mon droit," which is to say "God and my whole body of Law." Droit d'auteur is a term for French copyright law.

See also[link]

• The Wiktionary entry for droit

References[link]

•  Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Droit". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

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Patrick Bruel
Patrick Bruel, in 2006
Residence	Paris, France
World Series of Poker
Bracelet(s)	1
Money finish(es)	10
Highest ITM Main Event finish	428th, 2009
World Poker Tour
Title(s)	None
Final table(s)	None
Money finish(es)	2
European Poker Tour
Title(s)	None
Final table(s)	1
Money finish(es)	1

Patrick Bruel (born Maurice Benguigui on May 14, 1959 in Tlemcen, then French Algeria) is a French singer, actor, and professional poker player of Algerian Jewish^[1] descent.

Biography[link]

Patrick is the son of Pierre Benguigui and Augusta Kammoun, daughter of Elie and Céline ben Sidoun. His family became French in 1870 when the Crémieux Decree granted full French citizenship to the indigenous Jews of French Algeria.

Although Bruel aspired to be a football (soccer) star as a youth, he decided to pursue singing after seeing Michel Sardou in 1975. His first success came as an actor, however, in 1979's Le Coup de sirocco. He continued acting in films, on television and in the theater while pursuing his singing career. His first single, "Vide" ("Empty"), released in 1982, was not a success, but the follow-up, "Marre de cette nana-là" ("Fed up with that chick"), was a hit.

In 2003, he had his last name officially changed to Bruel-Benguigui, his stage name with his birthname, before his partner, the writer and playwright, Amanda Sthers gave birth to his first child, Oscar, on August 19. On September 21, 2004, he wed the 24-year-old Sthers; it is his first marriage. His second child, Léon was born on the 28th September, 2005. The couple separated in 2007.

As of 2004 Bruel has acted in more than 40 different television and film productions and made five studio albums and several live albums. In 2002 Bruel released Entre Deux, a double CD of classic chanson that features duets with Charles Aznavour, Jean-Louis Aubert, Jean-Jacques Goldman, Alain Souchon and Renaud, among others. It sold two million copies and made Bruel France's best paid singer of the year. At the beginning of 2005, in response to the South Asian tsunami of December 26, 2004, Bruel wrote the song "Et puis la terre" to benefit the Red Cross. His latest album "Des souvenir devant" was his 4th charttopper in France.

In addition to acting and singing, Bruel is a world class professional poker player. He won a World Series of Poker bracelet in 1998 for the $5,000 Limit Hold'em event. As of 2009 he has earned more than $900,000 in live tournament play.^[2] His 10 cashes at the WSOP account for $411,659 of those winnings.^[3] He also comments the World Poker Tour in his home country.

He owns the popular French poker forum Wam-Poker and is a shareholder in the online poker room Winamax.

First Name Controversy[link]

Even though the "Journal Officiel" mentioned Patrick Bruel as "M. Bruel"^{[citation needed]} (M for Maurice), the singer denies strongly having ever been named Maurice. He reiterated his denial in Le Parisien on September 7, 2010[1].

World Series of Poker bracelet[link]

Filmography[link]

• Paris Manhattan (2011)
• The Writer (2011)
• Comme les cinq doigts de la main (2010)
• Desperate Parents (2009)
• Le code a changé (2009)
• A Secret (2007)
• O Jerusalem (2006)
• Comedy of Power (2006)
• Wolf (2004)
• Une vie à t'attendre (2004)
• The Milk of Human Kindness (2001)
• Les jolies choses (2001)
• Le marquis (short) (2000)
• Lost & Found (1999)
• The Misadventures of Margaret (1998)
• Hors jeu (1998)
• Paparazzi (1998 film) (1998)
• K (film) (1997)
• Le jaguar (1996)
• Sabrina (1995 film) (1995
• A Hundred and One Nights (1995)
• Profil bas (1993)
• Toutes peines confondues (1992)
• Il y a des jours... et des lunes (1990)
• Force majeure (1989)
• L'union sacrée (1989)
• La maison assassinée (1988)
• Suivez mon regard (1986)
• Champagne amer (1986)
• Attention bandits! (1986)
• P.R.O.F.S. (1985)
• Le mariage blues (1985) TV
• Les amours des années 50 (1985) TV
• La tête dans le sac (1984)
• Marche à l'ombre (1984)
• Les malheurs de Malou (1984) TV
• Le grand carnaval (1983)
• Le bâtard (1983)
• Les diplômés du dernier rang (1982)
• Paris-Saint-Lazare (1982) TV
• Ma femme s'appelle reviens (1982)
• Les enquêtes du commissaire Maigret (1981) TV
• Le Rembrandt de Verrières (1981) TV
• La mort en sautoir (1980) TV
• Un pas dans la forêt (1980) TV
• Le coup de sirocco (1979)

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

Studio albums[link]

Live albums[link]

Compilations[link]

Singles[link]

Notes[link]

1. ^ http://www.tourism.gov.il/Tourism_Eng/Tourist+Information/Events/Events/Patrick+Bruel.htm
2. ^ Hendon Mob tournament results
3. ^ World Series of Poker Earnings, worldseriesofpoker.com

External links[link]

• Official site
• Patrick Bruel at the Internet Movie Database
• Biography of Patrick Bruel, from Radio France Internationale
• Photos

This article relies largely or entirely upon a single source. Please help improve this article by introducing citations to additional sources. Discussion about the problems with the sole source used may be found on the talk page. (March 2008)

Jean-Baptiste Maunier (born 22 December 1990), is a French actor and singer famous for his role in the 2004 French film, Les Choristes.

Early life[link]

Maunier was born to Thierry Maunier, a cameraman, and Muriel Maunier. He has a younger brother, Benjamin. His father sang in a well-known church choir (Les Petits Chanteurs de Saint Marc) which may have partly inspired Maunier in his own singing career.^[1] Maunier attended a private Catholic school in Lyon, France. He studied at the Lee Strasberg Institute in New York between 2008–2009 to perfect his acting and English, returning to France to sing in the group Les Enfoires.

Acting career[link]

Maunier gained fame for his starring role in the 2004 French film Les Choristes, in which he plays Pierre Morhange, a delinquent with an exceptional singing voice at the correctional school Fond de L'Étang. Christophe Barratier, the director of Les Choristes, chose Maunier because "he had the right look" and a marvellous voice. He was also exceptionally appealing for the role.^[2]

Following the release of the film, Maunier and the choir took part in numerous concerts all over the world, including Japan and Canada.^[2] In February 2005, Maunier left the choir in order to devote more time to his studies and to his acting career. In April and August 2005, he took part in a four-episode television series for France 2 directed by Hervé Baslé, Le Cri. In the series, Maunier plays the part of a young worker in a steelworks. The series was released in 2006.

Maunier appears in Le Grand Meaulnes, a film directed by Jean-Daniel Verhaeghe, based on a novel of the same name by Alain-Fournier. Maunier plays Francois Seurel in this film, which was first released in October 2006.

In Piccolo, Saxo et compagnie, released in December 2006, an animated film about musical instruments and notes on an adventure, Maunier lent his voice to the character Saxo.

In the summer of 2006, Maunier acted in Hellphone, a full-length film directed by James Huth. In this film, Maunier plays the role of Sid, a fan of the rock group AC/DC who finds he has a mobile phone with surprising powers. The film was released in March 2007.

His most recent film is L'Auberge rouge, directed by Gérard Krawczyk, an adaptation of the 1951 version. Maunier stars as Octave. It opened in theaters in France on 5 December 2007.

Jean-Baptiste has recently spent a year studying at New York's Lee Strasberg Institute to unleash his acting potentials. Staying in the US has also allowed him to polish and perfect his English. He has returned to France now, and has performed in the Enfoirés charity concert of 2010.

Singing career[link]

Upon entering collège (middle school), Maunier was asked to make a choice between various activities. He chose singing and became a member of Les Petits Chanteurs de Saint-Marc (full name is "La Chorale des Petits Enfants De Saint-Marc"). In the choir, he was tutored by the choirmaster, Nicolas Porte, and learned to develop his singing voice.

In Les Choristes, the film that made him widely famous for his singing skills, both Maunier's solo and the chorus of "Les Petits Chanteurs de Saint-Marc" are featured on the original soundtrack.

In 2005, to keep a souvenir of his voice before it broke, Maunier decided to sing with Clemence Saint-Preux and had released the single,Concerto pour deux voix, which was in turn an adaptation of Concerto pour une Voix.^[1]

While Maunier's vocal career is on hold for now, since 2005 he has participated in Les Enfoirés, an ensemble of notable singers and performers in France that periodically performs charity concerts.

Filmography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Jean-Baptiste Maunier at the Internet Movie Database
• Official Site
• Jean Baptiste Maunier Spain (No-official spanish forum)

Amel Bent Bachir
Background information
Born	(1985-06-21) June 21, 1985 (age 27)
Origin	Joué-lès-Tours, France
Genres	Pop, R&B, Adult contemporary
Occupations	Vocalist,
Years active	2004–present
Labels	Sony BMG

Amel Bent (born Amel Bent Bachir Arabic:أمل بنت بشير, on June 21, 1985 in Paris) is a French singer.

Biography[link]

Amel Bent grew up in the French commune of La Courneuve^[1] with her Algerian father and a Moroccan mother. She has a brother and a sister.^[1][2] Her career jump started after making it to the semi-finals of the reality TV show Nouvelle Star 2, France's version of Pop Idol. Although her performance did not make it to the finals, she was still noticed by some of the show's producers, and would end up making her début album later that year, titled: Un Jour d'été, released in late 2004. The album would sell more than 550,000 copies in France alone,^[3] but the success of the album would ultimately be derived from the single, "Ma Philosophie", which would sell at more than 500,000 copies, staying at the No.1 slot, in France, for more than 6 weeks during and after sales.

Amel Bent at the TF1 concert for Tolerance in Yasmine Hammamet in Tunisia.

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

¹ French Digital Charts
² Belgian (Wallonia) Albums Chart

Singles[link]

¹ French Digital Charts
² Belgian (Wallonia) Singles Chart

Notes[link]

Sources[link]

• http://www.last.fm/music/Amel+Bent
• http://influence.over-blog.com/article-10167534.html

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Amel Bent

• (French) Official website
• Amel Bent Ma Philosophie + Lyrics
• Official MySpace
• (French) Interview with Amel Bent on SoulRnB.com (13/12/10)

This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2012)

Les Cowboys Fringants
Les Cowboys Fringants in 2007
Background information
Origin	Repentigny, Quebec, Canada
Genres	Folk rock
Years active	1997 (1997)–present
Website	cowboysfringants.com
Members
Karl Tremblay Jean-François Pauzé Marie-Annick Lépine Jérôme Dupras Simon Landry
Past members
Dominique Lebeau

Les Cowboys Fringants (English: The Frisky Cowboys) are a Canadian folk rock music group formed in 1997 in Repentigny.

They are a popular band and cult phenomenon from Quebec, who perform Québécois néo-trad music (modernized Quebec folk music with a rock flavour), the band also draws on Country music. They have gained an international underground following, especially in France, French-speaking Belgium and Switzerland. There is even a group of French fans called Les Cousins Fringants (a take on the expression cousin that the French use to affectionately call French Canadians). They hail from the Montreal suburb of Repentigny and L'Assomption. The entire band collaborates on the lyrics, although guitarist Jean-François Pauzé often contributes more than the others. The fundamental aspect of the band are their explosive live performances, captured on the Attache ta tuque live album and the Centre Bell 30 décembre 2003 DVD.

Overview[link]

Les Cowboys represent an important part of modern Québécois music. They are part of the néo-trad movement that appeared in Quebec around the turn of the 21st century, and they embody a resurgence of political songwriting (after the drought of the 1980s and parts of the 1990s, political songwriting had been a victim of Post-Referendum Syndrome). As the néo-trad movement adapts Quebec folklore into contemporary crafts, the political message of the band is a re-occurrence of 1970s chansonnier activist messages of left-wing solidarity and, recently, sovereignism, although in a more distinctly modern way. They also sometimes adopt a minimalist & dadaesque style, a trend of the Quebec music scene of the 2000s - a decade of voluntary simple yet nonetheless quite intelligent and Joual lyrics, therefore subversive and akin to a sort of lyrical naïve art. (The 1970s did see the first wave of voluntary Joual art, like the songs of Robert Charlebois and Aut'chose, and the plays of Michel Tremblay, although not as willingly exaggerated. This is present even more so in the music of Les Trois Accords, Les Denis Drolet, Daniel Boucher, or in "Pépé et sa Guitare"'s (Pépé and his Guitar) song Carole).

The usual subject matter of the group includes: environmentalism, poverty, anguish and family troubles, as well as the denouncing of consumerism, exploitation, state-controlled gambling, cynical government attitude and political apathy. While some of those subjects are serious in appearance, they are often treated in a light manner, sometimes even in a fun, amusing and ironic way. The band also deals with themes of Quebec history, Quebec independence, suburban life, childhood and adolescence, kitsch, relationships and sports. Their songwriting is renowned for having woven an elaborate tapestry of fictional characters with interpersonal relationships, and sometimes a number of these characters appear in more than one song. Much like their writing, the clothes of the male members of the band are quite unique, sometimes purposely normal or kitsch and something of a postmodern, second degree artistic statement. Fans have followed the trend by wearing the equally kitsch t-shirts and other official clothing, with the group logo.

The band themselves are noted fans of Passe-Partout composer Pierre F. Brault and have performed shows in his honour. They have also been influenced by French singer Renaud, and his songs with political messages and local popular language (for Renaud, the French argot).

Many of the idiosyncrasies of their music stem from Marie-Annick Lépine, a versatile musician, who makes the band line up distinct from the conventional guitar-bass-drums-singer. Her talents contribute to the vivacious sounds of instruments like the violin, mandolin and accordion. She has also worked on the Dumas album Le cours des jours.

The band went on tour in summer of 2011, visiting cities in Quebec, France and Switzerland.

Members[link]

• Karl Tremblay (vocals)
• Jean-François "J-F" Pauzé (rhythm guitar)
• Nic Cartwright "Cartwright" (lead guitar)
• Marie-Annick Lépine (violin, mandolin, accordion, piano, banjo etc.)
• Jérôme Dupras (bass guitar, double bass)

Previous members:

• Dominique "Domlebo" Lebeau (drums) - Left the group on August 22, 2007, citing personal reasons.

Discography[link]

• 1997 12 Grandes chansons
• 1998 Sur mon canapé
• 2000 Motel Capri (listen) (April 4, 2000)
• 2001 Enfin Réunis (12 grandes chansons + Sur Mon Canapé) - (November 20, 2001) - (listen)
• 2002 Break syndical - (March 5, 2002) - (listen)
• 2003 Attache ta tuque! - (May 13, 2003; live album) - (listen)
• 2004 La Grand Messe - (November 23, 2004) - (listen)
• 2007 Au Grand Théâtre de Québec - (2007; live album)
• 2008 L'expédition - (September 23, 2008)
• 2008 Sur un air de déjà vu - (October 14, 2008)
• 2010 En concert au Zénith de Paris - (2010; live album)
• 2011 Que du vent - (November 14, 2011)

Filmography[link]

• 2004 Centre Bell 30 décembre 2003 - (April 13, 2004)

See also[link]

• Néo-trad
• List of bands from Canada
• Music of Canada
• Music of Quebec

External links[link]

• (in French) Les Cowboys Fringants Official site