Regularly it does not lie in the author's interest to simply forbid third parties the use and/or the performance of the own creation. The author prefers much rather that his work is distributed against refund. Certainly the individual holder of a copyright faces a large number of potential users, which makes the individual collection of the owed remuneration practically impossible. Therefore such individual collection has been replaced by the collective exploitation by collecting societies, to which the beneficiaries (copyright owners) may (partly) assign their exploitation rights. For certain rights the collective exploitation is regulated by law. Currently there are five approved collecting societies in Switzerland.
The SUISA, the Swiss Society for the Rights of Authors of Musical Works (responsible for authors of non-theatrical musical works and music publishers), the SUISSIMAGE, the Swiss Society for Authors' Rights to Audiovisual Works (responsible for the rights on films and movies), the PROLITTERIS, the Swiss Copyright Society for Literature and Art (responsible for copyrights on printed works and pictures), the SSA, the Swiss Society of Authors (responsible for dramatic works and music) and SWISSPERFORM, the Swiss Society for performers, broadcasting services, music and film publishers.
All Swiss collecting societies have concluded reciprocity agreements with a multiplicity of foreign sister societies, which guarantee that royalties brought in abroad will be forwarded to their members. The collecting societies are subject to supervision by the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property (IPI). Regarding the approving of the tariffs of the collecting societies, the Federal Arbitration Board for the Use of Author's Rights and Neighboring Rights is in charge.
The author regularly depends on persons or entities, which support him with the commercialisation and exploitation of his works. The oldest and most important kind of exploitation is that the author leaves his work to a publishing house for publication, which, generally speaking, in return lets him participate in the proceeds of the sale of his work. While a regular licence can concern any defined use of a work, the publishing contract, the obligation and the entitlement is basically limited to the work’s reproduction and distribution.
A copyright is transferable and inheritable. However, the author cannot sell the core domain of the copyright, such as the rights linked to his personality e.g. the right to claim authorship. In individual cases though the author may waive his claims out of such rights vis-à-vis third parties (if needed for money).
The proprietary work derives on the one hand from the personality of the author (e.g. a personal diary), on the other hand it can become an asset that may be commercialised. Between a drawing of a child, which usually only has purely idealistic value and a blockbuster movie, there are a variety of different possibilities to realise the value of a copyrighted asset.
The enjoyment and the exercise of these rights shall not be subject to any formality (particularly the signs © or "copyright"); such enjoyment and such exercise shall be independent of the existence of protection in the country of origin of the work. (Article 5 (2) of the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works).
New technical systems, such as digital rights management (“DRM”), make it possible for owners of copyrights to control and prohibit respectively the delivery of the digitalised content of their works e.g. for playback on a computer, portable device or network device. The copy protection is the crucial point of these control systems, allowing the purchaser of a music CD for example to make either no copy at all or a limited number of copies of the music files on the CD.
The control possibilities of the DRM may also extend to uses which, like the copying for private use, are legally permitted. Based on this fact, the discussion started about the question if the private use actually constitutes a right of the user, or if such use may only be regarded as pragmatic exception to the copyright protection, for which no justification exists anymore, when a new technical system allows the use of a control mechanism in the area of private use.
The collecting societies will possibly be challenged by the DRM and lose significance, should the controlling possibilities reach the end users’ private use of digitalised copyrighted products. The legal framework for the application of DRM is being discussed under the current revision of the copyright law, whose termination and implementation is not to be expected within the next five years yet.
Since there is no public register for copyright works in contrary to patents, designs and marks, from which the priority of the works could be learned, it is often difficult to proof such priority of copyrighted works.
Accordingly it is important that the author always records his ideas, drafts and compositions. Such documentation should take place continuously during the creative process, as not only completed works, but also drafts and parts are legally protected.
Thereby not only the creation of work itself, but also its exact time of creation must be recorded. Sometimes in a copyright dispute it can be crucial if it may still be recognized afterwards, whether the own work existed already one week earlier than an imitation and/or a plagiarism.
The enforcement of a copyright often fails because of the lack of evidence that the own creation was there before the imitation.
Within the legal framework basically those who make the legally protected works available on a server accessible over the internet are responsible for the use of music in the internet and other protected works (such as films, pictures etc.). Anyone who controls the content of a website is responsible and must obtain the necessary licenses. Also those who indirectly contribute to, tolerate or benefit from a copyright infringement (so-called "interfering persons"; e.g.: service providers) may possibly be bound to omit or remove such copyright infringements. However, the liability for damages requires intention or negligence (Article 41 of the Swiss Code of Obligations).
According to Article 10 para. 2 lit. a of the CRA the author has the exclusive right to produce work reproductions. This right also includes the digital storage of a work. The right of reproduction basically also includes each reproduction within the frame of the use of the internet and online-use respectively of a work, thus in particular the up- and downloading (Ivan Cherpillod, in: Hilty [Ed.], Information Highway, Bern/Munich 1996, p.262 et seq.; Martin Wirtz, in: Bröcker/Czychowski/Schäfer [Ed.], Praxishandbuch Geistiges Eigentum im Internet, Munich 2003, p. 627 et seq.).
As an exception to this right of reproduction reserved to the copyright holder the CRA rules that disseminated works may be used for personal use (see Article 19 CRA). Personal use shall mean any use of works in the personal sphere and within a circle of persons closely connected to each other, such as relatives or friends (Article 19 para. 1 lit. a CRA). Only natural persons may rely on the right to personal use in the narrow sense. Personal use in the broader sense means any use of works by a teacher for teaching in class (Article 19 para. 1 lit. b CRA) or the copying of work reproductions in undertakings, public administrations, institutes, commissions and similar institutions for internal information or documentation (Article 19 para. 1 lit. c CRA). Persons entitled to personal use may also have reproductions made by third parties; libraries that make copying apparatus available to their users shall also be deemed third parties within the meaning of this paragraph (Art. 19 para. 2 CRA). The following shall not be permissible outside the private sphere:
In other words, the complete or practically complete copying of commercially available reproductions is allowed within the private sphere in the sense of para. 1 of Article 19 CRA. However, this article shall not apply to computer programs (Article 19 para. 4 CRA; further information on Software Protection).
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