In this thread a question come up about Swiss copyright.
I checked and I was surprised - astonished, really - to find out that Switzerland does not have a procedure to register copyrights that would allow others to verify daters of creation.
Is this really true? I found several sites saying this but it seems odd.
If it is true, then how do you legally establish the date of creation of a work under Swiss law? And how did it work before the copyright revision law of 1992?
I am not an expert on Swiss law, but it is my understanding that this true (and skimming the relevant law did not yield any surprises.) It is not unusual in Europe.
In systems like Switzerland where copyright terms are defined relative to the life of the author even for old works creation dates are often not all that interesting. (They do matter for works with truly unknown authorship, though.)
Most countries have no copyright registration system.
How are copyright disputes about priority settled in those countries?
WAG: the same way the authenticity of any document or evidence is established during a court case. The author of a work will generally have some kind of records or drafts that demonstrate ownership. If it’s a published work there will be plenty of paperwork.
Also a WAG: I think it’s pretty rare for serious copyright disputes to involve a “but I created it first” argument.
In fact, most countries no longer have a copyright registration system, even if they did have one in the past. The US is notable in that it still persists in having a copyright registration system, even though registration is not necessary (and in fact is prohibited) for granting of the right in accordance with the Berne Convention.
There are few copyright court cases of any kind because it is so expensive. Most of the time, lawyers send out letters and out-of-court settlements are made.
I use the Library of Congress database regularly for a variety of reasons. It’s an invaluable research tool.
Is there no equivalent in Switzerland or the other countries without registration?