Federal Council plans to strengthen copyright law

On Friday, the Federal Council adopted the dispatch on the ratification of two agreements of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and on the partial revision of the Copyright Act. It wants to put a stop to the piracy of literary and artistic works. To this end, Switzerland is to participate in the international harmonization of copyright law and adapt its law to the level of protection that 127 WIPO member states have agreed to by approving the two agreements. The focus is on a ban on circumventing technical measures such as access barriers for Internet services or copy locks on CDs and DVDs. The ban also covers the production and distribution of circumvention software and the offering of services to circumvent protective measures.
The right of authors to distribute protected content online is to be extended to performers, producers and broadcasting companies: Anyone who releases music or films for download via file-sharing networks can therefore be prosecuted by all rights holders. However, downloading works for personal use should continue to be permitted without restriction.
New exceptions to protection in the bill are intended to ensure that Internet service providers are not liable for copyright infringements by their customers, that libraries and archives can also fulfill their documentation mandate in the digital environment and that the use of audio and audiovisual recordings is subject to uniform exploitation rules.