Distribution Rules: Decision of the Federal Institute for Intellectual Property
The Federal Institute for Intellectual Property has approved the following amendments to SUISA's Distribution Rules:
Follow the respective link to the wording of the decisions, available in German only, however. The individual amendments to the Distribution Rules are published in German, French and Italian in the Swiss Official Gazette of Commerce (SHAB/FOSC).
"Allocation of tariff revenues under CT 3a/ Revision of Article 5.5.2", published in SHAB/FOSC, 7 January 2026
This revision of the Distribution Rules concludes the review and adjustment of allocations under tariffs CT 3a, CT 3b and CT 3c. The allocation of CT 3c revenues was reviewed and updated as part of the review of Article 5.5.4. A customer survey was conducted for the purpose of reviewing CT 3b allocations; since the survey did not evidence any need to alter the allocations, there was no need to review Article 5.5.3 DR. With regard to the pending review of revenue allocations under CT 3a, in autumn 2024 Institut gfs Zürich conducted a survey of over 3,000 SUISA customers to obtain up-to-date and statistically relevant information on repertoire usage. The survey findings showed that the existing allocations for Article 5.5.2 DR no longer adequately reflect actual works usage; this is now being corrected by this revision.
The percentages for allocating tariff revenues to the individual distribution categories (DC) were adjusted in keeping with the results of the survey. The survey findings entail significant changes in the allocations applied for certain distribution categories, and may also have a higher impact on specific repertoires – this is notably the case for DC 6, 7 and 8 where the allocation rates have been lowered. The now approved revision of Article 5.5.2 DR takes these effects into account by utilising the statistical margin of the survey to cushion sharp reductions. Other distribution categories were also affected by a reduction; however, increases in other distribution categories have a compensatory effect (the new allocation to DC 4 contributes to this in particular).
The following overview shows the new allocation rates compared with existing percentages:
Audio
|
Usage |
DC |
Existing allocation |
New allocation |
|
SRG SSR radio |
1A |
55.0% |
36.2% |
|
Private radio |
2A |
29.5% |
31.5% |
|
SRG SSR advertising |
1E |
0.5% |
2.5% |
|
Concerts Brass band, choirs etc. |
6, 7, 8 |
6.5% |
4.8% |
|
Concerts (all others) |
4 |
1.0% |
11.4% |
|
Churches |
5 |
0.5% |
0.6% |
|
Live entertainment |
12A |
3.5% |
5.3% |
|
Sound recording entertainment |
12B |
3.5% |
7.7% |
Video
|
Usage |
DC |
Existing allocation |
New allocation |
|
SRG SSR TV |
1C |
55.0% |
29.9% |
|
SRG SSR advertising |
1E |
0.5% |
7.8% |
|
Private TV (CH) |
2C |
3.9% |
16.8% |
|
Television (foreign) |
GT 1 |
20.0% |
18.9% |
|
Advertising private |
2F |
0.1% |
8.5% |
|
Churches |
5 |
0.5% |
2.4% |
|
Screenings films/DVDs |
9D |
20.0% |
3.8% |
|
Streams (VoD) |
22S |
0.0% |
11.9% |
The revision comes into force two months after it is approved by the competent authorities. Like the IPI, the Office of Economic Affairs of the Principality of Liechtenstein also approved the revision on 12 January 2026. The new rules are effective on 12 March 2026 and are already applicable to the first quarterly settlement on 15 March 2026.