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Films for TV, cinemas, festivals, and VoD

Apply for a licence

You are producing a film with music and offering it to professional users

Online form

Is one of your film productions with music being shown on TV, at the cinema or a film festival, or as a video on demand? To be able to use the music, you must make sure that you have the necessary rights.

If you intend to produce a video and make it publicly available, follow this link.

How to acquire the necessary music rights:

  • Existing music: synchronisation rights must be obtained from the authors or their representatives, as well as from the label if the music was published on vinyl, CD or on streaming platforms. This must be done before the film is produced.
  • Commissioned music: if you are commissioning music from a composer, the rights of use must be regulated by a contract. If the composer belongs to a collective management organisation, SUISA manages the authors’ rights.
  • Production music: beware of purportedly free music from websites. Certain providers claim that all rights are included, but that is not always true. SUISA manages the rights for uses in Switzerland and Liechtenstein in particular.
    Production music specificities: No further action required as regards synchronisation rights. Favour our contract partners of production music to avoid paying twice for rights.

How to proceed:

Fill in the online form. You can save the form and finish filling it in later.

After checking your application, SUISA issues you an invoice. The licence is valid as soon as payment is received.

From the payment proceeds, SUISA distributes the corresponding royalties to the entitled composers, lyricists, and publishers.

Answers to frequently asked questions

  • Reproduction and making available are two different forms of use.

    • Reproduction is federally regulated and is subject to a tariff.
    • Making available (e.g. posting on the internet) is not federally regulated and is subject to its own set of rules.

    However, both uses are public uses within the meaning of the Copyright Act.

  • A production budget comprises the pre-production, production and post-production costs.

  • Productions must always be registered with SUISA before the audiovisual recording is produced.

  • The licence is delivered directly at registration, when you file application form VN-C .

    The fees are flat-rate fees for the use of productions via streaming or downloading.

  • The waiver, or buy-out as it is also called, only applies to recording and reproduction rights under Tariff VN – with the exception of advertising.

    Performance rights (e.g. showing the film on television or at the cinema) are not covered by the waiver. Accordingly, in the case of these performances, authors continue to receive the relevant remuneration.

Do you have further questions?