http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,2002303,00.html

Heir of Victor Hugo fails to stop Les Mis II

The case set French copyright laws, which put a literary work in the public domain 70 years after the author's death, against the concept of an author's "moral rights". The latter are considered timeless and passed on to descendants.

I found this at the comments of Lessig's new Orphan Works suggestion
http://lessig.org/blog/archives/003696.shtml