Observed Signal · Jun 17, 2026 · Policy Update · Source: persoenlich.com News · Impact: 3/5 · Sentiment: Negative
Swiss Senate Returns Copyright Bill to Include AI
On 17 June 2026 the Swiss Council of States (Ständerat) sent the draft revision of copyright and related protection law (URG) back to the Federal Council so the government can examine how artificial intelligence affects platforms, search engines and the proposed ancillary copyright. The lower house (Nationalrat) had earlier approved the move. Parliament intends that online services showing excerpts (snippets/thumbnails) and AI applications that reuse or are trained on journalistic content should be covered and may be required to pay remuneration. The Federal Council and the Swiss Institute of Intellectual Property (IGE) will now study implications; work to combine AI protections with the publisher ancillary-rights proposal will likely delay implementation by about two years. The Verlegerverband Schweizer Medien (VSM) welcomed the decision but urged a speedy process and plans to participate in the consultation expected later in the year.
A legal decision to include AI use and platform behaviour in an ancillary copyright affects publishers, search engines and AI providers — with implications for content licensing, AI training data, and platform monetization. The federal review and expected two-year delay make this a regionally significant regulatory development for publishers and platforms.
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Key Takeaways & Evidence Grounding
- On 17 June 2026 the Swiss Council of States (Ständerat) returned the copyright and related protection law (URG) draft to the Federal Council.
- Parliament wants online services (e.g., Google, X) and AI applications that display or reuse journalistic excerpts (snippets/thumbnails) to be included under the ancillary copyright and potentially pay remuneration.
- The National Council had earlier approved the request; the decision is now final and requires the Federal Council to assess AI's impact on platforms and search engines.
- The Institute of Intellectual Property (IGE) has begun work on implementing Motion by FDP Senator Petra Gössi; Justice Minister Beat Jans said merging AI protections will delay the publisher ancillary-rights work by about two years.
- Verlegerverband Schweizer Medien (VSM) director Pia Guggenbühl welcomed the decision but warned Switzerland must not fall behind the EU and other countries and pledged participation in the forthcoming consultation.
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Swiss Parliament Seeks to Regulate AI Deepfake Providers
The Swiss National Council (Nationalrat) unanimously adopted a motion by Raphaël Mahaim (Green Party, Vaud) asking the government to make generative AI providers responsible for protecting against sexualized deepfake content and to establish a review body able to impose sanctions. The Federal Council supports the motion and plans to consult on ratifying the Council of Europe’s AI conventions; the upper house (Ständerat) must still decide. The motion cites examples involving the AI tool Grok on platform X. Separately, the European Parliament approved an amendment to the EU AI Act that would ban AI applications able to produce sexualized deepfakes, with 423 votes in favour; formal approval by EU member states is still required and enforcement by the EU AI Office would begin on 2026-12-02. The draft law also requires clearer definitions of sexualized content and mandates marking/guidance such as watermarking for generated media.
Swiss Federal Council Backs Regulation of AI Deepfake Tools
On 21 May 2026 the Swiss Federal Council supported a motion by Raphaël Mahaim (Greens/VD) calling for regulation of providers of generative AI whose tools can produce sexualized deepfake content. The proposal requires providers to assess risks and harms from sexualized deepfakes, implement protective measures when their systems can generate such content, and submit to review by a control body that can evaluate risk assessments and impose sanctions if necessary. The Federal Council cited examples including the AI tool "Grok" (integrated into platform X) allegedly producing sexualized images of women and children. The motion now goes to the National Council for a decision. The article also notes an earlier March motion from Council of States member Fabio Regazzi requesting a national strategy to counter misuse of images, with special attention to women, adolescents and children.
Swiss Publishers Launch Industry AI Code
The Verlegerverband Schweizer Medien (VSM) and multiple Swiss media organisations have published a sector-wide AI code establishing shared principles for the use of artificial intelligence in journalism. The code emphasizes self-regulation, mandatory transparency and labelling (including deepfakes and fully automated AI content), staff training, protections against AI-generated disinformation around votes and elections, and a two-stage reporting model with company-level reporting units and an independent AI ombudsstelle that issues recommendations and annual transparency reports. The code does not impose formal sanctions. Separately, Wemf announced a new "Responsible AI-Audit" certification and quality label for Swiss media.
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