The debate is on

THE NEW COPYRIGHT ACT: HIGHWAY OR DEAD-END?

Society is in the middle of a transition similar to the advent of printing. New information technologies such as the internet and cellular telephones offer infinite possibilities and many challenges.

How can we assure that artists and scientists continue receiving fair pay for their activities? What are the consequences when a copy is identical to the original? What entitlements do users have? How can access to digital content be secured? Is digitalization a dead-end or a highway? These questions are at the center of the many-sided debate concerning copyrights, freedom of information and consumer protection.

The digital world: A blessing

The breakneck speed of digital technology development has fundamentally changed the way society relates to information and the creation of culture. Content is now accessible to users and consumers anywhere in the world, and it can be copied and saved. At the same time, the entertainment industry has developed new forms of production and distribution. For instance, management systems offer a much simpler means of providing and marketing creative works and other protected performances online. This is an advantage for users and consumers as well. Instead of going to a store to buy music recordings, films, books, or software, they can acquire them online. And this content can be copied and further circulated over the internet without any loss of quality.

Or a curse?

With new technologies consumers also have the resources to do the impermissible. The consequence for those involved in the production of culture is empty pockets and a diminished incentive to create cultural contents. In response to these changed consumer behavior patterns, the entertainment industry is protecting commercial cultural goods with technological measures such as copy barriers on CD’s and DVD’s and by fighting unlicensed file-sharing on the internet.

Such technological measures, however, can get in the way of legal uses, such as making a private copy. In addition, consumers and users fear that access to existing works as well as the use and further development of technologies for disseminating information could be restricted. Consumers, educational institutions and industry are all demanding that the limits of copyrights be more clearly defined for the digital age.

The Internet Treaties

In response to this multifaceted problem two treaties were brought into existence in 1996 through the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). They offer starting points for WIPO member states in the process of revising their national protection to modern communication technology for authors, musicians and music producers.

As a signatory to these treaties, Switzerland wants to participate in the international harmonization of copyright and thus needs to revise its copyright legislation.