6.5 Criminal actions

Aside from being civil matters, some copyright infringements can also be subject to criminal sanctions (Art. 67 et. seq. CopA). There are several penal provisions in the copyright law:

● unlawful infringement of the exclusive rights of the copyright owner (Art. 67 CopA)

● other infringements in the context of the copyright with criminal character

○ failure to indicate the source (Art. 68 CopA)

○ infringement of “related rights” (Art. 69 CopA)

○ abuse of rights (Art. 70 CopA)

● forfeiture of unlawfully manufactured or used goods (Art. 72 CopA and Art. 70 et.seq. Swiss Criminal Code (SCC) and Art. 263 Criminal Procedure Code (CrimPC))