Copyright Review Commission Report - ICT Law and Regulation ...

Before the royalties can be distributed among the members, the royalties received from the joint tariffs are apportionedamong the societies involved. Each society then distributes its share to its members. Detailed examples can be found on thepage money flows (at http://www.swisscopyright.ch/en/income-and-distribution/money-flows/key-figures.html).Article 49 of the Copyright Act provides that the collecting societies must distribute the royalties in proportion to the revenue itreceived from the individual exploitation of works and performances. They must take reasonable steps and appropriate stepsto identify the copyright owners who should be remunerated. SWISSPERFORM has a division of 50% / 50% betweenperforming artists and producers (see overview on distribution on page 18 of the 2010 Annual Report:http://www.swisscopyright.ch/fileadmin/user_upload/news/Publikationen/2010_SWISSPERFORM_Jahresbericht.pdfSUISA distribution is done through the use of data from several sources, such as works played on radio stations (80%), CDsales, and cinema and television performances. SUISA does 25 distributions per year. SWISSIMAGE’s distribution ofroyalties is complicated as there are various different factors to weigh. SWISSIMAGE strives to be as precise as possible, butit must also take efficiency requirements into consideration and thus has to make certain assumptions. It makes use ofmarket research to determine which cable operator offers which channels and viewing patterns of users. Market researchersregularly contact 2 000 households.SWISSPERFORM has developed weight factors to determine the type of programmes that users tape on DVDs etc.Experience has shown that these are not the same in the areas of distribution. Unclaimed royalties are reserved for fiveyears. If they are not claimed, the money goes into another distribution,The administrative costs are kept below 20% and some collecting societies’ costs are below 10%.16.4.10 Administrative costs 20106.7. PROTECTION OF INDUSTRY AGAINST MUSIC IMPORTSThe performance of music is decidedly local in Switzerland. SWISSPERFORM has noted that the average ratio betweenlocal and foreign distributions of royalties is as follows (percentages exclude record producers and broadcasters): Local (Switzerland / Liechtenstein): 9,2 million CHF (71%); and Foreign: 3,8 million CHF (29%).Article 48(2) of the Swiss Copyright Act provides that a portion of the proceeds may be used for social welfare purposes andfor appropriate furtherance of culture, subject to approval by members. The roots of this provision can be traced back to- 153 -