The collective management organisations ProLitteris, SSA, SUISA, SUISSIMAGE and SWISSPERFORM have issued a joint statement on the consultation draft of 24 May 2023 (Federal Act on Copyright and Related Rights – Neighbouring Rights for Journalistic Publications). The Swiss collective management organisations, which act collectively under the name ‘Swisscopyright’, have assessed the proposal from both a legal and a practical perspective.
They welcome the planned amendment to the Copyright Act. The Federal Council has drafted a sound piece of legislation. The collective management organisations particularly welcome the following four elements of the proposal, which differ from the similar EU neighbouring rights regime:
Firstly, the Swiss proposal utilises the tried-and-tested system of mandatory collective management: the collective management organisations’ tariff procedures and distribution systems. There is no ban on use.
Secondly, the proposal applies to the targeted work – journalistic publications – as a whole. Use, on the other hand, may also comprise merely snippets and thumbnails. Hyperlinks, however – i.e. references to other addresses – are not subject to remuneration.
Thirdly, the criteria for determining the amount of royalties deviate from the ‘user’s revenue’ principle previously applicable to all statutory royalties; furthermore, the criteria for collection differ from those for distribution.
Fourthly, the right to remuneration lies with the media companies, but journalists will receive a share, for example on a 50:50 basis as in ProLitteris’s ‘Online Distribution’ scheme within the framework of the established copying royalties.
The detailed statement can be found here:
Statement by the collective management organisations