Rechtsinstrumente : die Übersetzung von Technik in Recht

As an effect of industrial and technological development during the 19th and 20th century technologies such as telegraphs, photography, railways, the telephone, the
car, electricity, the phonograph or airplanes became objects of law and legal cases. These technologies challenged some fundamental concepts of law. The article focuses on the legal context of Switzerland and especially the integration of new technical devices into copyright laws and argues that law is reluctant to conceptual change:
new technologies are integrated into old esthetic concepts. In the 1950s and 1960s a change in the perception of technology by jurists can be observed: While some voices argue for a new interpretation of old traditions, others criticize the undermining of law by technology.