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Film screenings with live music

Apply here for a licence

Apply here for a licence to use music at film screenings with live music

Online form

If you show films and have the film music played live, e.g. by an orchestra, you have to apply directly to the film production company for a licence or, in the case of non-commercial screenings, to the MPLC.
SUISA will issue you the licence for the music under Common Tariff K.

Licences

The fee for the authors’ music rights is maximum 5% of the ticket price or costs. This amount will be reduced proportionately with the ratio of the duration of the music to the total duration of the film.

For more details, please consult the relevant fact sheet and the tariff.

How to proceed:

Please send us the duly completed questionnaire. Please also send us the particulars of the film you are showing. We will then issue the licence and the invoice for the screening. Once your payment is received, we distribute the remuneration to the beneficiary composers, lyricists, and publishers.

FAQ: Frequently asked questions

  • If you wish to perform protected music (or have it performed) in public, you must apply to SUISA for authorisation.

    All forms are available at this link.

    The forms should be completed and filed with SUISA no later than ten days after the concert. To calculate the royalties properly, SUISA needs to have a detailed list of the works performed, and a copy of your income and expenditures statement.

  • SUISA normally calculates the remuneration based on a concert's revenues. In the following cases, however, the cost of the music use serves as the calculation basis:

    • if the revenues cannot be established;
    • if the costs are higher than the revenues and the customer has not prepared a budget, or if the customer assumes from the outset that the costs will have to be fully or partially covered by his own funds;
    • charity events where the profit goes to the needy.