It would be useful if the Swiss Intellectually Property Institute were to present this FAQ also in French and Italian, as these are also official languages of CH. Amgine On 18 Feb 2014, at 10:03, Luis Villa <lvilla(a)wikimedia.org> wrote: > Interesting example of small but real progress in educating by persuading government agencies to discuss facts that are important to us but not normally something they think about. > > Luis > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > From: Daniel Boos <boos(a)pong.ch> > Date: Sat, Feb 15, 2014 at 6:37 AM > Subject: [communia-associates] Offical Public Domain FAQ from Switzerland > To: communia-associates(a)lists.communia-association.org > > > Hi all > > Last year we kindly asked the Swiss Intellectual Property Institute to > write an FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) on questions concerning the > Public Domain. They were supportive of our idea. > > Last week they published their answers (in German): > https://www.ige.ch/service/haeufige-fragen/urheberrecht/public-domain.html > > Unfortunately they are in German. IPI/IGE will translate the FAQ and add > some answers about international matters. Some of the answers have > implications for archives, museums or libraries in Switzerland. For > example the FAQ makes clear: > > - when works are not protected by copyright in Switzerland (e.g need for > some individual creativity (geistige Schöpfung ohne Individualität), > official protocolls and reports, scientific data, after 70 years (death > of author or if author is not known 70 years after publication), many > everyday photos) > > - what one can do with works in the public domian > > - that the digitalization of a work usually does not create new > intellectual property rights > > - circumstances, when it is allowed to break DRM protecting public > domain works. > > - it does not matter, if a work is published or not. They all fall in > the public domain 70 years after the death of the author > > - ... > > It also contains a nice definition in about what the public domain is. I > think it is important to have such a FAQ on the webpage of the official > agency for intellectual property matters in Switzerland. It is probably > the only FAQ on their side describing what is not protected by copyright. > > I wrote a short article on the Digitale Allmend Blog. > http://allmend.ch/2014/02/ige-veroffentlicht-faq-zu-public-domain/ > > Please distribute it to those that might be interested. > > The Swiss Intellectual Property Institute welcomes feedback. We might > discuss it on the list. If you wish, Beat Estermann and I can report back. > > Best regards > Daniel Boos > _______________________________________________ > Communia-associates mailing list > Communia-associates(a)lists.communia-association.org > https://lists.communia-association.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/communia-as… > > > > -- > Luis Villa > Deputy General Counsel > Wikimedia Foundation > 415.839.6885 ext. 6810 > > NOTICE: This message may be confidential or legally privileged. If you have received it by accident, please delete it and let us know about the mistake. As an attorney for the Wikimedia Foundation, for legal/ethical reasons I cannot give legal advice to, or serve as a lawyer for, community members, volunteers, or staff members in their personal capacity. > _______________________________________________ > Advocacy_Advisors mailing list > Advocacy_Advisors(a)lists.wikimedia.org > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/advocacy_advisors