Each year, ProLitteris distributes the previous year’s proceeds from statutory and international royalties as well as extended collective licenses. Of approximately CHF 35.2 million in revenue, shares were first paid to other collecting societies and organizations in Switzerland and abroad after deduction of administrative costs (approximately CHF 11.6 million). In addition, the proceeds from voluntary collective management are distributed in advance: for reproducing works of art (Art sector) and for literary works in radio and TV broadcasts, in particular for uses by SRG SSR (Audio sector, approximately CHF 1.4 million). In addition, approximately CHF 3.3 million goes to social benefits and cultural contributions. These contributions, like administrative expenses, are deducted before the distributions.
Approximately CHF 19 million was available for the Main Distribution 2026, which consists of the Print, Online and Broadcast distributions. The payout to members took place in September.
As every year, three declaration procedures were carried out and three royalty sums were calculated in accordance with the distribution rules. Rights holders can participate in three systems with their works:
- Print distribution for printed texts and images
- Online distribution for texts, with or without images, on the Internet
- Broadcast distribution for texts and images on television and texts on radio
The Main Distribution 2026 totaled approximately CHF 18.94 million. The royalty sums were:
- Print distribution: approximately CHF 10.08 million (previous year CHF 9.54 million).
- Online distribution: approximately CHF 8.42 million (previous year CHF 8.87 million).
- Broadcast distribution: approximately CHF 0.44 million (previous year CHF 0.44 million).
The royalty sum is at the previous year’s level. Among publishing houses, media companies with current reporting, academic publishing houses (including for natural sciences and law) and fiction book publishing houses stand out. Among authors, journalism and specialist literature in the fields of natural sciences, technology and law stand out.
The Print distribution takes into account 523’464 (previous year 542’214) eligible work declarations. There are 11’826 eligible rights holders, including 743 publishing houses.
Following several years of growth, the Online distribution is stabilizing with 195’041 (previous year 197’067) royalty-eligible declarations and is CHF 450’000 below the previous year. No larger publishing houses were added in the 2025 usage year.
The most recent of the three distributions, Broadcast, was at the previous year’s level at CHF 446’200. It included 2’674 declarations with approximately 27’304 broadcast minutes from 252 rights holders. Declarations in the fields of sport and comedy/spoken word have increased. So far, three publishing houses participate in this distribution.
For the 2028 distribution year, ProLitteris plans a revision of the distribution rules, which requires approval by the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property (IPI). In the Print distribution, the royalty periods will be standardized: eight years for books, four years for magazines and one year for daily and weekly press. Teaching materials will be given greater weighting and aligned with academic literature. In the Online distribution, the number of accesses is to be taken into account more degressively, while text length is to be taken into account without the previous degression. New control options are intended to allow ProLitteris to review copyright protection and eligibility, where necessary, using appropriate and proportionate measures; this is becoming more important with AI-generated content. For particularly high individual annual royalties, the supervisory board has applied for a degression: following the main application, the share between CHF 10’000 and CHF 20’000 is to be taken into account at 50 percent and the share above this at 25 percent. The newly planned Expo distribution is intended to take into account artists who exhibit visual works. The first payout is planned for 2028, and a trial operation as early as 2027 is under review. All requested amendments are subject to approval by the IPI.