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Music and videos on the internet

Apply for a licence

Apply here for the licence to use background music

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Are you planning to release music on the Internet? See below for information about the main licences.

Häufige Fragen und Antworten (Demo)

  • The Copyright Act protects all musical works of an original nature created by individuals. Apart from music, other acoustic works of an original nature, characterised by the use of sounds and not notes, are protected. All these works are protected regardless of their value or purpose. A symphony and a radio jingle enjoy equal protection under the Copyright Act. SUISA only manages what are known as “small rights”, i.e. the rights to non theatrical music. This includes:

    • non theatrical musical works, with or without lyrics, including oratorios;
    • concert versions of theatrical (dramatic) musical works;
    • dance musical works which can be used without dance;
    • excerpts from theatrical musical works which do not comprise a complete act and are not longer than 25 minutes in the case of a radio broadcast, or 15 minutes in the case of a television broadcast.
    • musical works in films or other audiovisual or multimedia works (except in the case of films of dramatic musical works).

    SUISA is responsible for performance, broadcasting and retransmission rights, public broadcasting rights, the right to make music available (online rights), mechanical rights (i.e. the production of sound and audiovisual recordings, including audiofiles) and blank carrier and rental rights.

  • Musicians have a legal claim to royalties when their music is made publicly available in videos on the internet. SUISA invoices the fees and passes them on to the authors. 

  • Copyright law is a complex field. The following checklist can be of assistance if you have questions concerning copyrights for uploading music:

    For music and video uploads:

    Can you confirm all of the following points?

    • Did you compose the music yourself?
    • Did you write the lyrics?
    • Did you record and publish the song yourself or have you obtained permission from the producer or record company that made the recording?
    • Do you have permission from all the right-holders to use the relevant samples for your songs?
    • Can you confirm that you do not have record contract with a music label or record company? 
    • Can you confirm that you do not have a publishing deal or music publishing contract?

    If you can answer yes to all 6 questions, you may upload your music or film without a licence from SUISA.