Facts
The Zurich historian Georg Kreis and Tamedia AG, the publisher of the "Tages-Anzeiger", filed a lawsuit against Schweizerzeit Verlags AG. They claimed that the defendant had violated the plaintiff's copyrights and personality rights by publishing Georg Kreis' article in "Schweizerzeit" on July 26, 2002.
The Cantonal Court of Zurich dismissed Georg Kreis' claim, as it considered the reproduction of his article by the defendant to be justified by the right to quote under Art. 25 of the Swiss Copyright Act (URG). Furthermore, the plaintiff's personality rights had not been violated.
Georg Kreis then appealed to the Federal Supreme Court.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court concluded that the defendant had infringed Georg Kreis' rights of use of the work within the meaning of Art. 10 para. 2 lit. a and b URG by the unauthorized publication of the article in "Schweizerzeit". The right to quote under Art. 25 URG could not justify the publication, as the reprint did not serve the purpose of explanation, reference or illustration.
However, the Federal Supreme Court denied a violation of the plaintiff's moral rights under Art. 11 URG. Given the nature of the article as part of a public…