7.4 What rights come into play?

Regarding copyright, the Swiss Federal Copyright Act (CopA) does not make a distinction between a work being used on social media or in a more “conventional” setting. The author therefore has a large number of exclusive rights, in terms of both moral and property rights, to protect their work.

There are no specific rules pertaining to social networks. However, the matter at hand, namely the publication of a protected work on social media, does involve special moral and property rights. This chapter aims to briefly describe how and to what extent these rights come into play (Federal Council, Un cadre juridique pour les médias sociaux, Nouvel état des lieux [A Legal Basis for Social Media. A Chance to Take Stock], Supplementary Report of the Federal Council in Fulfilment of the Amherd Postulate 11.3912 “Cadre juridique pour les médias sociaux” [Legal Basis for Social Media] of 10 May 2017, p. 38).