Did you know that musical instruments can enjoy copyright protection?

A landmark decision of the High Court of the Canton of Bern in Switzerland (HG 20 117) concerning the copyright protection of the instrument “Hang”, a hand-played percussion instrument consisting of two half-shells made of sheet steel. It was created in Bern, Switzerland, in 2000 and is known by street musicians all over the world.

The court dealt with the question of whether copyright protection exists for an instrument with the following four design elements: i) lenticular shape, ii) central dome, iii) opposite resonance hole and iv) circular sound fields.

The court found that “although the four elements can all be reduced to simple geometric figures, the combination and overall appearance results in a distinctive combination of features.” The decisive factor is whether a third party would have created the same or essentially the same work.

As a consequence, the court came to the conclusion that the “Hang” is protected by copyright as a work under Swiss, German and Dutch law!

Here you will find the link to the court decision:

https://panart.ch/files/images/OGer-BE-Urteil-Urheberrechtsschutz-HANG_2024-07-16-153539_rlll.pdf

_{Disclaimer: This article is merely general information and not legal advice from ATTYS 05 Rechtsanwälte GmbH; it cannot and is not intended to replace individual legal advice. ATTYS 05 Rechtsanwälte GmbH assumes no liability whatsoever for the content and accuracy of the blog post.}