Employees and managers obtain information and documentation, among other things, from sources and content that are protected by copyright. These include specialist texts, opinion pieces, internet content, and scientific literature. The Copyright Act (URG) permits corresponding reproductions in Article 19. Common Tariff 8 (CT 8), for which ProLitteris is responsible, additionally mentions internal forwarding as printout or file, and internal making available on an intranet, on a server, or with a collaboration tool. The royalty is the well-known copying royalty starting at CHF 32 per year or CHF 3.20, 5.20, or 8.20 per full-time position, depending on the sector. Media reviews are additionally remunerated, at CHF 4.50 per position with access.
For the obvious integration of material that has been lawfully copied under CT 8 (CT-8 material), an extended collective license is suitable. This instrument is regulated in the new Copyright Act (URG) in Art. 43a. A collective management organization such as ProLitteris may then become active if the use does not interfere with the normal exploitation by the rightsholders, and if the affected rightsholders are represented at the collective management organization in large numbers.
ProLitteris now envisages offering at least larger companies an ECL with the following elements:
- Content: Works and parts of works in the categories text and image that have been reproduced in accordance with Common Tariff 7 (CT 7, schools) or 8 (CT 8, organizations).
- Lump-sum arrangement: The specific use of works is not decisive. The licensees may provide ProLitteris with statistical data that contribute to calculating an appropriate royalty, but they do not have to declare specific uses of works.
- Use: Internal use within the respective organization, excluding publication and external dissemination. This requires AI settings that exclude uploading such sources to the provider.
- Territory: The ECL is limited to the territory of Switzerland. In practice, this means that staff in Switzerland are covered, but not staff abroad. ProLitteris is in contact with collective management organizations abroad in order to expand the scope of the license over time.
- Rightsholders: Authors and publishing houses are entitled to declare an opt-out, that is, to exclude their works from this AI license. ProLitteris will communicate the opt-out declaration, with the consequence that these works may no longer be used with AI.
- Costs: For a pilot phase of the license, we will base ourselves on the royalties of CT 8, i.e. a few francs per year per employee.
The AI license from ProLitteris is intended to help ensure that companies and their staff keep not only data protection but also copyright better under control when using AI. Based on our experience and on the advice we provide to companies, there is considerable legal uncertainty in this area. And despite some differing statements by attorneys, AI use is not exempted under current law – instead, it requires consent, a license. Only the planned revision of the Copyright Act (Motion Gössi) would remedy this legal uncertainty.
We are interested in talking to companies that have their registered office in Switzerland about this license. We are already in contact with some large companies.