The rights to my first book
The rights to my first book
"I'd like to put my first book on the market and I'm wondering how to defend copyright and publishing rights against misuse?"
Jacques, Geneva
All works, i.e. all intellectual, literary or artistic creations of an individual nature, are protected in Switzerland by copyright, without the need for any formalities, from the moment they are created until 70 years after the author's death. With the exception of use of a work by private individuals for personal purposes, which is permitted by law, the author of the work has the exclusive right to decide whether, when and how his or her work is used. This includes reproduction, distribution and sale. However, the author may assign his or her rights, or part of them, to a publisher, who is then obliged to reproduce the work in a specified number of copies (as set out in the contract) and then distribute it to the public.
If someone appropriates or tries to appropriate your work, you have several options for defending your rights. In civil law, you can ask a judge to : the existence of your copyright or of a licensing agreement to be legally established; the imminent infringement of your copyright to be prohibited or, if it has already occurred, to be immediately halted; the infringer to inform you of the origin, quantity and recipients of the objects made or put into circulation illegally; that you be awarded damages, compensation for non-material harm, the return of any profits obtained or provisional measures to ensure the prevention or cessation of the infringement on a provisional basis; that the unlawfully manufactured objects, instruments, tools and any other means primarily intended for their manufacture be confiscated, sold or destroyed. Finally, you may request publication of the judgment at the expense of your opposing party. At the same time, you may lodge a criminal complaint against any person who infringes your copyright in any way, with the penalty being a custodial sentence of up to one year or a fine.
So there's no need to take any steps to protect your literary work. Your work is automatically protected by copyright as soon as it is created, so you can demand that anyone respect your copyright or stop infringing it. As you will have understood, if your rights are infringed, you can file a civil action with the Civil Division of the Court of Justice, claiming damages, and file a criminal complaint with the Public Prosecutor's Office or go to a police station.
