About us

SWISSPERFORM ensures that creative artists are adequately remunerated for their works and thus contributes to strengthening culture in Switzerland and the Principality of Liechtenstein.

1. We act in the interest of our members. We support and strengthen them in exercising their neighbouring rights and ensure an appropriate remuneration. Our key tasks are the conclusion of tariffs and the collection and distribution of the resulting proceeds.
2. For our members, partners and users we provide attractive services. We recognise the developments in the cultural sector and search for suitable solutions for all parties involved.
3. We strengthen culture and through our work we contribute to making cultural creativity worthwhile. We provide 10% of our revenues for cultural and social purposes.
4. We are service providers in the digital environment. We seize the opportunities of digitalisation and continuously adapt our services and way or working. We provide our users with easy access to the repertoire of our members.

1. We are loyal: Our members take centre stage; we know the different needs and support them equally.
2. We are transparent: Our members know and understand what we are doing, and they can review our work. We provide them with all necessary information in this regard.
3. We are efficient: We act in a targeted, cost-conscious, and performance-oriented manner. We do not aim for profit.
4. We are curious: We closely follow economic, technological, and legal developments and adapt continuously.
5. We are attractive: We offer committed employees an interesting working environment at the interface of culture, business and technology and support their development. We show trust and respect to our employees.
6. We are networked: We maintain a constant exchange with our partners in Switzerland and abroad and use synergies wherever possible.

SWISSPERFORM is the collective management organisation for neighbouring rights (also called related rights) in Switzerland and the Principality of Liechtenstein, supervised by the Swiss government. SWISSPERFORM operates based on an authorisation granted by the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property (IPI) and on a licence issued by the government of Liechtenstein.

SWISSPERFORM manages secondary usage rights. SWISSPERFORM claims against users on behalf the neighbouring rights’ owners. The rights arise in connection with the secondary usage.

SWISSPERFORM negotiates tariffs with the users and their associations and ensures that the relevant fees are collected and distributed to the right holders.

SWISSPERFORM cooperates with other Swiss collective management organisations.

The Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property (IPI) supervises the activities of the collective management organisations in Switzerland, including SWISSPERFORM. It examines and approves SWISSPERFORM’s annual financial report.

Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property
Stauffacherstrasse 65/59g
3003 Bern

ige.ch
T +41 31 377 77 77
E-mail

Apart from authors’ works, Swiss copyright law also protects performances by performers (in the audio and audiovisual field), producers of audio and audiovisual recordings and broadcasters. The rights of those right holders’ groups are referred to as related rights or neighbouring rights (NR). Neighbouring rights exist at international level in all countries that have ratified the Rome Convention (RC) or the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT).

CoPa

Rome Convention

WPPT

WIPO

Holders of neighbouring rights control the primary usage of their performances themselves and claim their financial entitlements directly from the users. Musicians, for example, collect their concert fees directly from the concert organiser. However, as soon as recordings of the concert performance are used (e.g. by broadcasting them on radio or TV), these are considered secondary uses.

In many cases, particularly in case of mass usage of their performance, it is impossible for the individual right holder to keep track of the relevant secondary usage. The legislator therefore determined that in certain cases financial claims must be managed collectively – by a collective management organisation operating based on an authorisation and under government supervision. The collective management organisation dealing with such claims in Switzerland is called SWISSPERFORM.