Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie

Copyright

Copyright

Copyright allows an author to protect a work and gives him a certain number of related prerogatives.

Contrary to the rights for trademarks, patents and designs and models, copyright exists purely by virtue of having created the work and applies without any formal procedures.

Generally, copyright protects in particular literary works (books and journalistic pieces), artistic works, musical (plays, visual creations), figurative works of art (designs, sculptures), photographic works...

On the other hand, concepts, ideas and genres cannot be protected by copyright and must remain freely available.

In order for a creation to benefit from copyright protection, it must fulfil the condition of originality and/or of a unique character according to national laws. Furthermore, the appreciation of its characteristics often takes into consideration the stamp of the personality of the author of the piece.

With regard to Swiss law, the Swiss Federal law on copyrights and associated rights of 9th October 1992, defines a work as a creation of the mind, whether literary or artistic, which has an individual character independently of its value and of its destination.

The perception of the condition of originality varies considerably according to national legislations.

A copyright is made up of two types of prerogatives:

• Patrimonial rights
• Moral rights

Generally speaking, the first permit the author to authorise and consequently to forbid any exploitation of his works. These rights include in particular: the right of reproduction/of representation, the right of distribution...

Moral rights or extra-patrimonial rights are connected to the actual person of the author and also comprise various prerogatives such as: the right to divulgation, the right to paternity, the right to the respect of the integrity of the piece....

Here too, national legislations do not have a uniform conception of moral rights, particularly the countries said to have copyright.

As for the duration of copyrights, they depend on laws controlled at country level. In certain countries, the duration of protection is for the lifetime of the author rounded up to 50 years.

In other countries, the duration of protection is that of the life of the author rounded up to 70 years (as is the case in Switzerland).

Other than these private intellectual property rights offering an owner the power to take legal action against counterfeiting under certain conditions, there is another possibility of taking legal action, in the name of unfair competition. However, this type of action comes under a different system and does not have the same objectives as proceedings against counterfeiting.