Suisa and Youtube agree on license agreement
The Swiss Cooperative Society of Authors and Publishers of Music Suisa and Youtube have agreed on a licensing contract. Thanks to the agreement, the rights holders represented by Suisa will receive remuneration for the use of their musical works on Youtube in Switzerland.
According to the announcement, the agreement will come into force on September 1, 2013. In the future, the authors and publishers represented by Suisa will receive remuneration for the use of their works on YouTube. At the same time, the contract licenses the repertoire of Swiss authors and Suisa members for use on YouTube in a large number of countries outside Switzerland. This will enable Swiss composers and lyricists to also receive revenues for the use of their works on YouTube abroad and thus to increase their presence on the world's largest online video community.
Andreas Wegelin, Director General of Suisa, says of the agreement with YouTube: "We are pleased to have reached an agreement with YouTube after negotiations in the interest of our members. The negotiations were characterized by the mutual conviction that rights holders and music creators should benefit from their creative work on the video platform. I am particularly pleased that the agreement means that our members' repertoire will also be licensed to YouTube for many countries outside Switzerland. Thanks to this agreement, further doors are opening for Swiss music creation to leap beyond the country's borders via this important Internet media platform."
"After constructive discussions with Suisa, we are very pleased to be united in promoting the creation of Swiss content on Youtube. Swiss and international composers and authors can now generate revenue for the use of their works in Switzerland through Suisa, and Swiss can also generate revenue for use throughout Europe," said Patrick Warnking, Country Director Google Switzerland. "The agreement also represents a big win for the YouTube community, for whom listening to music and discovering new Swiss artists is an important part of the online experience."
In addition to the agreement with Suisa, Youtube has agreements with over 40 other collecting societies worldwide. These include, for example, PRS for Music in the UK, SACEM in France, SGAE in Spain, SIAE in Italy, BUMA Stemra in the Netherlands and, more recently, AKM/Austro Mechana in Austria.
