Copyright is a legal right that automatically protects original works of authorship from unauthorized use. A work of authorship can be books, music, art, software, etc. In Switzerland, copyright grants the creator exclusive rights to use, reproduce, distribute, and display their works. To be protected by copyright, a work must be original enough; the threshold is defined on a case-by-case basis, depending on the type of work. An exception applies to photographs which are protected irrespectively of their "level of originality."
Copyright does not protect ideas, only their expression. For software in particular, only the source code is protected, not the concept.
Licensing your copyright means giving permission to another party to use your work for a specific scope, which defines the extent and limitations of the rights granted to use copyrighted material, such as where, how, and for how long it can be used.
Copyright protection is automatic and does not require registration. It arises as soon as an original work is created and fixed in a tangible medium.
However, proving your ownership, especially in legal disputes, may require evidence such as dated drafts, registrations with a notary, or other documentation.
Keep in mind that copyright is automatically vested in the author (i.e., the physical person who created the work) and needs to be assigned to a company for the company to own it. Check out our page on IP ownership & IP assignment.
Licensing your copyright is done through an agreement. This usually takes the form of a licensing agreement, but it can also be done as a part of another agreement.
Licenses have many parameters, such as:
A wide license could read: "The licensor hereby grants the licensee a worldwide, exclusive, transferable, sublicensable, non-revocable, perpetual and free license to use, develop, and exploit the licensed software."
A restrictive license could read: "The licensor hereby grants the licensee a non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sublicensable, revocable, and limited license to use the licensed software for internal purposes in Switzerland for the duration of this agreement, subject to the payment of the costs."
Written agreements: Text form agreements are entered into for all licenses.
Scope of the license: The scope of the IP license granted is carefully described in all licensing agreements, including:
Material scope
Geographical scope
Purpose
Duration
Exclusivity
Transferability
Sublicensability
Revocability
Costs
Scope of the licensed IP: The scope of the licensed IP is clearly delimited.
The license is generally linked to the licensed IP. Usually, the license will cover "Intellectual Property Rights" and will be broader than copyright. It could, for example, include a trademark or a patent. The mechanism remains the same as a copyright license.
Check out our licensing agreement package and book a free call with us.