## Facts

- Frau X, a psychology student, researched and wrote extensive scholarly work on the child psychoanalyst Hermine von Hug-Hellmuth, including a licentiate thesis and doctoral dissertation.
- X submitted two unpublished manuscripts on the topic to Z Publishing House seeking publication.
- Z declined to publish and informed X that the manuscripts were being sent to Frau Y for an expert opinion.
- Y later delivered a previously scheduled seminar lecture on the same subject.
- In the lecture, Y used quotations and various biographical details and research results that X alleged came from her unpublished manuscripts.
- X sued Y and Z seeking (among other relief) an injunction requiring any use of quotations and research results from her manuscripts to be clearly identified, and CHF 2,000 in moral damages plus interest.
- A cantonal appellate court dismissed X’s claims, and X appealed to the Swiss Federal Supreme Court.

## Issues

1. Whether using quotations and biographical/scientific details from X’s unpublished manuscripts in a lecture infringed X’s copyright under Swiss copyright law.
2. Whether copyright protection for scientific works extends beyond expressive form to scientific ideas, facts, and research results.
3. Whether transmitting X’s manuscripts for evaluation and using their contents without attribution violated X’s general personality rights.
4. Whether Y’s and Z’s conduct constituted unfair competition in an academic/publishing context.

## Decision

- The Swiss Federal Supreme Court affirmed the dismissal and rejected X’s appeal.
- The court held there was no copyright infringement because the material taken consisted of unprotected scientific facts, details, and research results rather than protected expression.
- The court held copyright does not protect scientific ideas, data, or results as such, even if novel and labor-intensive to develop.
- The court found no actionable violation of personality rights based on the complained-of use of X’s scientific results in a lecture.
- The court found no unfair competition because using unprotected scientific information, without additional market-deceptive or secret-misappropriation conduct, did not meet the statutory standard.

## Legal Principles

- A scientific work is protected by copyright only to the extent it reflects an individual, original form of expression meeting a minimum threshold of creative authorship.
- Copyright does not protect scientific ideas, factual discoveries, data, or research results; those elements remain free for others to use, even if taken in large quantity.
- Submission of an unpublished manuscript to a publisher for potential publication, with notice it may be reviewed by an expert, does not by itself establish liability absent protected-expression copying or a legally recognized confidentiality breach.
- General personality-rights law does not automatically supply remedies for priority or credit disputes in scholarship where the conduct does not amount to a legally relevant encroachment on the protected personal sphere.
- Unfair-competition law generally requires market-oriented bad-faith conduct; mere use of non-protected scientific information is insufficient without additional unfair commercial behavior.

## Conclusion

The court rejected claims for injunctive relief and moral damages, holding that academic borrowing of unprotected scientific facts and results from an unpublished manuscript—without copying protected expression and without additional wrongful conduct—does not establish liability under copyright, personality-rights, or unfair-competition law.


Frau X v. Frau Y & Z Publ'g House, 113 BGE II 306 (Switz. 1987)