Author

Under Swiss copyright law, the author is the human creator of a work. Authorship arises from creation, not registration or publication. The author originally holds moral rights, such as recognition of authorship, and economic rights, such as reproduction, distribution and making available, subject to statutory limits and transfers of use rights. Legal entities may acquire rights but are not authors in the strict sense. Joint authorship exists where several persons contribute creatively to a unified work. Employment or commission contracts affect exploitation rights but do not erase authorship.