Online advertising campaigns

Whosoever intends to publish or broadcast an audiovisual production – such as a commercial, film, video, or a series – has to file an application with SUISA.

The application can be made by:

• the principal or the user of the music directly, or
• an agent, such as an advertising agency.

SUISA confirms the registration in writing and issues the corresponding SUISA number(s).

Registration is online using the relevant VN-A application form (available at this link).

Yes. You must first register the video production with SUISA under Tariff VN. After registration, you are issued a SUISA number.

Then register the making-available of the online advertising campaign and enter the SUISA number in the process.

For further information, see: Online advertising campaigns

If you are re-using a commercial without making any changes – in duration, music or images – simply send an email to advertising@suisa.ch with the particulars of the repeat broadcast.

However, if any changes are made, a new form must be filled in, and the commercial must be registered with SUISA as a “derivative commercial”.

SUISA only protects and licences music. For a commercial to be broadcast on TV or online – with or without music – it must have a SUISA number. This is the only way the commercial can be unequivocally identified.

However, SUISA does not issue invoices for commercials that do not contain music, nor does it pay any royalties.

The production won’t be properly licensed, and it cannot be lawfully broadcast or streamed.

In that case, although their music was used, the music-makers will not be fairly remunerated.

Image films are designed to cast a company in a positive and informative light. The purpose is to strengthen trust in the brand or the company.

Commercials, on the other hand, target sales directly: they promote a product with a view to increasing sales.

Yes. Licensing under Tariff VN is mandatory, even without an online budget. 

Ideally, advertising budgets should be reported per commercial.

SUISA admits one exception:

• if music was commissioned from the same composer for several commercials, and
• the commercials differ only in length, for example,

a joint overall budget can be submitted.

Please point this out in the “Notes” field of the registration form.

Please send in your advertising budget as rapidly as possible.

If you do not have the budget when you register your application, indicate this in the “Notes” field. The budget must be sent in within four months of registration.

Important:

• In absence of budget information, SUISA can make a binding estimate.
• Changes in budgets must be reported promptly – ideally before invoicing.

Send the corresponding information with the SUISA number to: invoice-ad@suisa.ch

This can vary from case to case. Please contact advertising@suisa.ch with the particulars.

Yes. Any change in the commercial –- whether in the images, music, duration, or text – requires a new SUISA number.

But if the only difference is the language, a single SUISA number is enough.

All commercials or video productions broadcast in Switzerland or Liechtenstein must be registered with SUISA – regardless whether or not they contain music, licence-free music, or production music (also known as ‘mood music’).

Please fill in the registration form as completely and as accurately as possible so that SUISA can unequivocally identify the musical work.

On the use of ‘licence-free’ music from the internet:
You have used music promoted as ‘licence-free’ on certain websites in your commercial produced in Switzerland. These platforms offer catalogues presented – depending on the country or region – as freely usable.

Warning: Under Swiss law and in application of the agreements between SUISA and its members, and between SUISA and its foreign partner organisations, SUISA is required to collect remuneration where:

• the rightholders have transferred their works to a collective management organisation like SUISA, and
• their works are used publicly by third parties (e.g. in a commercial).
   

From the moment these musical works are entrusted to SUISA for rights management, their use is no longer automatically licence-free. We recommend that you check directly with the relevant websites to find out whether the works you are using are truly copyright-free. In many cases, no additional costs are likely to be due – but this depends on the specific piece of music and the legal circumstances.

If the video productions are only made available on the website or on the customer's social media channels, both the reproduction rights and the making-available rights must be licensed from SUISA.

In the case of production music, all relevant rights are covered by a single all-in fee.

In other words, the invoiced amount covers:

• synchronisation rights (combining music and images),
• master rights (recording rights)
• and authors’ rights (composer’s copyrights).

The source of the music does not matter.

When dealing with music protected by copyright and used in Switzerland or Liechtenstein, it must be licensed by SUISA under Tariff VN.

Unfortunately, we cannot answer these questions for two reasons:

• we receive a large number of inquiries every day.
• The circumstances of composers, publishers and subpublishers can change between the moment of your inquiry and the subsequent invoicing date.

SUISA’s duties include the following, among other things:

• managing the licensing of the use of music
• supporting music creators
• collecting and distributing royalties for the work of composers

For further information, we refer you to VN-Tariffs on page 4 and the licence terms and conditions for online advertising campaigns

The principal or the music user – in other words, SUISA’s customer – is invoiced for the music use in accordance with the applicable tariffs.

The music creators, who are either members of SUISA or of a foreign sister collective management organisation, are remunerated (royalties) in accordance with SUISA’s Distribution Rules.

The amounts paid may vary – depending on various factors such as the applicable tariff and the relevant distribution category.

The music users themselves decide who the invoice is sent to. SUISA sends the invoice to the address indicated on the registration form.

The debtor is always the person or company indicated on the form as the customer.

Settlement statements are generally prepared 3 months after the fully completed registration form is received.

If important information is missing – especially with regard to the advertising budget – processing may take longer. If, despite a reminder, the missing information is not supplied, SUISA may prepare a binding invoice based on its own estimate.

No. Rights in commercials cannot be waived; waivers are only possible in respect of films.

If the commercial is to be broadcast abroad, you need to contact the collective management organisation in the host country. They are responsible for licensing there.

If the content and the music in the bumper is identical to that in the main commercial, the bumper is counted as part of the same commercial.

Tariff VN, point 19 provides that:

• if different versions are cut of a commercial produced for use in Switzerland, the longest version is decisive for licensing purposes;
• all other versions qualify as copies of the main version.

This means that:

• only the longest version needs to be licensed for reproduction and making-available.
• For all shorter versions, only the making-available needs to be licensed.

(see points 15.3 and 24 of Tariff VN).

As soon as you use music publicly, you require a license – regardless the medium on which the music is used.

Since Tariff PN is still valid, you must continue to register and license your radio ads.

The same applies for ads played on podcast hosters.

Videos or websites with the same content made available in different languages count as a single video or point of presence – provided they appear on the same domain.

SUISA can deliver all necessary rights for production music.
 

These include among inter alia:

• reproduction rights
• global making-available rights (e.g. on internet)
• synchronisation rights (i.e. combining music with images)
• related rights

SUISA has concluded the necessary agreements with various publishers of production music.

For further information, see on our website: Production Music

SUISA licenses the mechanical rights (production) and the right to make audiovisual productions available. But the production process involves other rights. These are synchronisation rights, generally held by the publisher, on the one hand, and recording rights, held by the label, on the other. To obtain these rights, one normally has to pay the corresponding remuneration.

These are two distinct forms of use. The mechanical rights are federally regulated and are subject to a tariff. Making available is not federally regulated and is subject to its own set of rules. Both uses are public uses within the meaning of the Copyright Act. 

We take the average production cost per video.

In other words: the total production budget of all the videos divided by the number of videos. This average value is the reference basis for the fee calculation.