Facts

This judgment addressed the question of whether the play "Der Snob" by Carl Sternheim, who died in 1942, was again protected by copyright after the extension of the copyright term from 50 to 70 years post mortem auctoris by the revised Copyright Act of July 1, 1993.

The Neue Schauspiel AG took the view that the copyright protection for the work had expired at the end of 1992, while the Felix Bloch Erben, as the holder of the performance rights, claimed that the work had been protected again from July 1, 1993 until the end of 2012.

Considerations

The Federal Court decided that the extension of the term of protection from 50 to 70 years after the death of the author does not apply to works whose term of protection had already expired under the old law. The legislature did not intend for the new law to have retroactive effect on such works.

The Federal Court justified its decision as follows

  • The wording of Art. 80 para. 1 of the Copyright Act is not clear, as the marginal title suggests a limitation to works that were protected under the old law.
  • The legislative history shows that the legislature did not address this issue.
  • The historical development of copyright law shows that the legislature has previously rejected retroactive effect on works that have already fallen into the public domain when extending the term of protection.
  • According to the general principles of intertemporal law, a retroactive effect on works that have already fallen into the public domain would be classified as a "genuine…