Hello everyone,
 

We hope this message finds you well. We wanted to provide you with an update on the PANart lawsuit proceedings in Bern over the past few days.

As of now, a verdict has not yet been reached. On the second day, the judge mediated  both parties in an attempt to reach a settlement. However, no agreement has been reached on the day itself. The judge has given a time period of four weeks for both parties to come to a settlement. The negotiations will proceed between the parties via email or other channels. This time period can be extended if more time is needed. If either of the parties does not see a possibility anymore and no settlement has been reached then the proceedings will continue to the next phase.

So far, PANArt has proposed a limitation on handpans that no convex dome should be built on central notes. We find this proposal unacceptable as it would compromise the sound quality, tuning stability and playing possibilities of the instrument tremendously. We have suggested several possibilities to abstain from certain shapes/colors, but we did not get an answer if there was an interest from PANArt’s side. 

What are the potential outcomes?

• If a settlement is reached and a compromise is found that is agreeable to both parties, the proceedings will conclude.
• If no settlement is reached, the next step would be for the court to determine whether any of the hang models can be granted copyright protection.
  a. If the answer is no, the case would conclude. However, PANart would have the option to file an appeal, which they are likely to do. This would mean the same copyright question would be brought before the next higher court instance.
  b. If the answer is yes, the current case would progress to the next phase. In this phase, the judges would examine various handpans to determine if, and which, handpans may potentially infringe upon the alleged copyright. This process would involve further hearings and submissions to the court from both parties.
  Here it would be determined how wide or narrow the scope of copyright would be. This ruling could then be appealed again by either side.

We remain optimistic that a final verdict will result in a situation where handpans can be built with no or only very small compromises to the instrument’s quality and playability. However, in most scenarios where a settlement can not be reached, we anticipate that this legal process may extend over several years into the future.

For all handpan builders who have not yet received our video updates, please inform us at info@hcu.global. We value your input on the current questions at hand.

Thank you for your attention and support.

Sincerely,

The HCU admin team