Copyright: Understanding copyright & should the © be used?
You're in the process of setting up your business and you want a website. As you browse the web, you notice a little © next to a year of a name at the bottom of many sites. You wonder what it's for, and if it's mandatory.
As a creator, you often hear about "copyright" and the fact that you have to protect your works with this "copyright", but you don't know how to do it.
This article will help you understand what copyright is and how it works under Swiss law, as well as whether this little © is mandatory on your website or anything else you create.
Which law protects copyright in Switzerland?
In Switzerland, copyright is protected by the Federal Law on Copyright and Neighboring Rights (RS 231.1 - LDA) of October 9, 1992, and its ordinance of April 26, 1993.
What's the point of copyright?
Copyright protects the author of a literary or artistic work.
However, it's not the idea or concept that is protected, but the form it takes, the work.
Thanks to copyright, the author of a work can decide by whom, when and how his or her work can be used.
As a result, if copyright law applies, during the term of protection, anyone wishing to use a work must have the author's authorization to do so (there are exceptions, notably if the use is limited to strictly private or educational purposes, or for internal information purposes within companies).
What is “work” regarding copyright law?
The list is not limited, but there must be a work, i.e. a creation of the mind, literary or artistic, with an individual character.
From this, it results, for example, that paintings, sculptures, drawings, plans, works of architecture, works of applied art, choreographic works, cinematographic works and other visual or audiovisual works, as well as photographs, are works. Even computer programs (software) are works!
Interesting for photographs: photographs taken since April 1, 2020, are in principle protected by copyright law, whether they are analog or digital, made with a camera or smartphone, or taken by a professional or amateur.
Duration of copyright protection
Copyright protection is limited in time. After a certain period, the work enters the public domain and can be used by anyone without the author's consent.
In Switzerland, works are covered by copyright for 70 years after the author's death. An exception is made for photographs that are not of an individual nature: they are protected for 50 years after the death of their author.
Do you have to do something for your work to be protected by copyright in Switzerland?
I'm often asked what formalities need to be completed to have my work protected in Switzerland.
The answer is: there is none.
As soon as a work has been created and meets the criteria of a work according to the law, it is protected in Switzerland from the moment of its creation. For example, it does not have to be recorded in a register.
So, do you have to indicate "copyright" or other abbreviations such as © to protect your work?
As there are no specific formalities to be completed for a work to be protected by copyright law, other than creating it, it is not mandatory to include a "copyright" notice (©, "copyright", "rights reserved"...) for it to be protected. Even if the work is available on the Internet.
So, just because you haven't included this notice doesn't mean that your work or the material you put on the Internet or social networks isn't protected by copyright law.
Recommendation:
The copyright notice, although not mandatory in Switzerland, is nonetheless useful: it serves as a reminder that the work is protected, and helps to identify its author.
Since it's not mandatory, there's no 1 way to mention it either. But it should contain:
the word "copyright" (or ©)
the year of the work's 1st publication (if the work is updated, a range of years can be entered)
The name of the copyright holder
On the bottom of a web page (because the material on the site is often updated), the copyright notice might look like this:
@ 2020-2023 Etienne Dupont
Please note: the mention "all rights reserved" is also common.
Again, this statement is not mandatory. It simply emphasizes that, despite any modifications, all copyrights continue to exist on the work.
One last question remains: how do you prove that you are the author of the work?
Interesting question, since we've seen that there is no register of works.
Generally speaking, if an artistic or literary creation meets the conditions of a work, it is protected by copyright law.
Copyright law presumes that the person who claims to be the author of the work is its author.
So it's only if someone claims otherwise that you'll have to prove paternity.
For example, you can prove that you are the author of the work with witnesses, sketches, designs or original files.
The work can also be deposited with a notary or lawyer.