Photo protection now also in Switzerland
Switzerland received an improvement in photo protection
Photo protection made it into the URG
At the end of January, the photo protection working group invited to an aperitif riche at the Kornhaus-Forum in Bern to celebrate the long and persistent success of including photo protection in the revision of the copyright law. A motley crowd of helpers and comrades-in-arms appeared to be happy about the victory. After the referendum initiated by the Pirate Party against the URG revision adopted in the autumn session did not materialize, the last possible stumbling block has also been cleared out of the way: thanks to the legally anchored photo protection, it is finally clear in Switzerland that photography is no longer easy may be used and resold without being asked. Photo protection guarantees all image creators – whether professionals or amateurs – that respect for their work that has increasingly been lost with digitization and the self-service mentality. The revised law is to be introduced in April 2020.
After welcoming the happy group, Christoph Schütz, the initiator and head of the photo protection working group of the SBF, USPP, vfg, SAB, impressum and Syndicom associations, described in a brief review the persistent, tireless commitment to this important issue over the course of 7 years. He thanked everyone who contributed to the success: his comrade-in-arms Beat Ernst from the SER for his active support, the associations of the image industry for their contributions, the photographers who worked for the early morning before the vote in the National Council Had demonstrated photo protection and the members of parliament who stood up for the cause.
The next speaker was Beat Flach, a member of the National Council member of the Legal Affairs Commission, about the URG revision from the perspective of the politician involved. Photo protection was only one of the concerns of many during the revision. Mr. Flach was impressed by the serious, decent tenacity with which Christoph Schütz lobbied parliamentarians for photo protection.
Philip Kübler, Director of Pro Litteris, explained in his speech how Pro Litteris, after initially rejecting the matter, thanks to many conversations with Christoph Schütz, has changed his mind and now also agrees to photo protection.
An imaginative humorous insert on the topic brought fun to the happy group. Also present as a cardboard figure was Christoph Meili, the security guard with the UBS files, which he saved from being shredded and thus started dealing with dormant accounts. And the photographer Gisela Blau, who shot the famous picture, which was assessed as not worthy of protection in the federal court, was pleased that her famous picture will also be protected in the future.
The evening ended in a happy mood with an aperitif riche.
We at the SAB would like to thank the photo protection working group, especially their locomotive Christoph Schütz, for their enormous commitment to this important cause. How nice that it was worth sticking with it!
Picture Bern in a festive mood: Christoph Schütz
Main picture: Christoph Schütz (r) + Beat Ernst pose with Meili cardboard cutout
Photo Severin Nowacki