(Press release) SUISA, the Swiss Cooperative Society of Music Authors and Publishers, and YouTube have signed a licence agreement. The agreement means that copyright owners represented by SUISA will receive a remuneration for the use of their work on YouTube in Switzerland. At the same time, the versatile repertoire of Swiss authors and SUISA members is now licensed for use on YouTube in many countries.
Zurich, 25.9.2013 – The cooperative society SUISA, which collects royalties in Switzerland and Liechtenstein and manages the rights of two million copyright owners from around the world, has signed a licence agreement with YouTube. The agreement comes into force on 1 September 2013. The agreement means that authors and publishers represented by SUISA will ow receive a remuneration for the use of their works on YouTube.
At the same time, the agreement means that the repertoire of Swiss authors and SUISA members is now licensed for use on YouTube in many countries outside Switzerland. This enables Swiss composers and lyricists to receive royalties for the use of works on YouTube internationally and has strengthened their presence on the world’s largest online video community.
Andreas Wegelin, CEO of SUISA, on the agreement with YouTube: “We are delighted to reach an agreement with YouTube after negotiations on behalf of our members. Our talks with the representatives from YouTube were driven by the mutual belief that copyright owners and music creators should benefit from their creative work on the video platform. I am particularly pleased that the agreement also covers the licensing of the repertoire of our members on YouTube in many countries outside Switzerland. This agreement opens more doors for the Swiss music scene to transcend national borders via this important internet media platform.”
“Following constructive discussions with SUISA, we are very happy to be united in promoting Swiss content on YouTube. Swiss and international composers and lyricists can now receive royalties through SUISA for the use of their works in Switzerland, Swiss composers and lyricists caneven do so throughout Europe,” Patrick Warnking, Country Director of Google Switzerland. “The agreement also represents a major gain for the YouTube community, especially for those users for which listening to music and discovering new Swiss artists are an important part of the online experience.”
In addition to the agreement with SUISA, YouTube has signed agreements with more than 40 other collecting societies around the world, including PRS for Music in the UK, SACEM in France, SGAE in Spain, SIAE in Italy, buma stemra in the Netherlands and most recently AKM/austromechana in Austria.