Extended collective licenses

Use numerous works and pay a flat royalty

Extended collective licenses are based on Art. 43a CopA. They enable the use of numerous works in a way that does not impair the normal management by the rights holders. Areas of application are open archive projects and uses that accompany a private use (e.g. information and documentation in companies) or a technical process (e.g. translations, artificial intelligence). ProLitteris continuously develops the offer further. The agreed licenses apply to Switzerland and are published on the website. Opt-out declarations by rights holders are possible.

Areas of application

When is an extended collective license suitable?

An extended collective license is relevant for you in the following cases:

Rights holders are not known or cannot be located.
Digitization for the communication or publication of works.
Inclusion of texts and images in databases or collections.
Making collections accessible for research, artificial intelligence or documentation.
Media coverage or research publications beyond the statutory privileges.
Activities of libraries involve reproductions and publications.

Extended collective licenses enable the use when it concerns a very large number of works and — from the perspective of the rights holders — harmless uses.

Artificial intelligence

Internal AI uses without infringing copyright

ProLitteris extends the statutory permission for internal information and documentation with a license for systems such as Copilot, Claude, ChatGPT or DeepL for uses that are limited to internal purposes and do not lead to the publication of the output. The legal basis is Art. 43a CopA (extended collective licenses).

Conclusion of an ECL

How do you obtain an extended collective license?

Initial contact: You describe the purpose of the planned use and the works concerned.
Clarification: ProLitteris checks whether an extended collective license is possible and issues an offer.
Contract: The written license defines the scope of application and the royalty.
Use: Now the use of the agreed works is legally secure.
Renewal and review: The license can be adjusted over time. Opt-out declarations must be observed.

Request a license

Fill out the declaration form linked below and send it to our customer service. We review your request, in particular the intended purpose of use and the works concerned. We then define the scope of the license and the royalty. For ongoing uses, e.g. online, an annual license is possible.

Request a license

Documents

Application form for an extended collective licence (German)

PDF (88 KB)

Download

Questions and answers

SRG has a blanket license for the use of images in television programs.

SRG may use images as part of its programs without obtaining a separate license for each individual work. The basis is a license agreement with ProLitteris, which is compensated by an annual blanket royalty.

This license covers all images used, regardless of which artists they come from.

The income from this agreement is not allocated to individual uses, but is distributed as part of the additional Art distribution. You receive a royalty if your works were used and taken into account in the corresponding period. ProLitteris distributes small amounts as part of an additional distribution to all rights holders who have already received royalties for specific uses.

You can contact ProLitteris for an extended collective license (ECL) if you are planning to use numerous works.

The application cases for an ECL from ProLitteris include in particular:

Open archive projects of memory institutions
Extension of statutory limitation provisions, e.g. quotation freedom, reporting freedom, inventory lists or catalog freedom
Internal AI uses limited to sources that have been reproduced for internal information and documentation

An extended collective license (ECL) requires that the use does not impair the normal management of the rights.

Internal AI systems such as Copilot are not covered by the statutory license (CT 8), because their use goes beyond merely copying and making content available internally.

Extended collective licenses can provide companies with a legal basis for using protected content in internal AI systems.

If your AI data contains copyright-protected works, the statutory license for personal use (e.g. according to CT 8) is not sufficient.

You essentially have two options:

You carefully review and clean up your data so that it does not contain any protected content.
You use a collective license from ProLitteris that covers such uses.

The statutory license allows you to:

copy protected content
forward it internally, for example as a file or printout
make it available on the intranet or in collaboration tools

These uses are covered by the copying levies according to CT 8.

For you, this means: As soon as protected content is used in internal AI systems, you need an additional legal basis. One possible solution is the extended collective license according to Art. 43a CopA, which can cover such uses in the future.

ProLitteris is designing a license for internal AI uses with the following conditions:

Content: You may use works and parts of works in the fields of text and image, provided that they were previously reproduced lawfully in accordance with CT 7 or CT 8.
Lump-sum royalty: You do not have to declare individual works. A few statistical details are sufficient. Trade secrets are not affected.
Use: The use is restricted to internal purposes. Publication or external dissemination is excluded. AI systems must be configured so that no data is transmitted to external providers.
Territory: The license applies to Switzerland. With the license from ProLitteris, you can also demonstrate abroad if necessary that your company takes care to comply with copyright.
Rights holders: Authors and publishing houses can exclude their works from use (opt-out). Such declarations are extremely rare. The works concerned may then no longer be used in the future.
Costs: ProLitteris bases the royalty on CT 8, and it amounts to the same sum per full-time equivalent and year as in the tariff.

This license is intended to enable you to use internal AI systems in compliance with the law without having to clarify every single use of a work.

The extended collective license for internal AI uses is intended to help operate AI applications in a legally compliant way that are in any case used in practice.

Companies receive a clear basis to comply correctly not only with data protection, but also with copyright. Today, there is legal uncertainty in many companies.

The use of AI is not automatically permitted under current law. If protected content is used, consent or a license is required.

With the AI license, ProLitteris creates a practical solution for everyday business. It makes it possible to use internal AI systems without having to clarify each individual use of a work.

ProLitteris is in dialogue with companies in Switzerland on this and is further developing the model based on the experience gained.

Extended collective licenses (ECL) are licenses that enable a use even when not all rights holders are individually represented.

For you, this means: An ECL covers not only works by rights holders with a management agreement, but also works by persons without any direct connection to ProLitteris.

Requirements:

The statutory conditions in accordance with Art. 43a CopA are fulfilled.
A collecting society such as ProLitteris is responsible for a substantial part of the rights holders.

Rights holders can object and exclude their works from the license (opt-out).

In practice, ECLs are currently used mainly for orphan works. In such cases, the rights holders are unknown or cannot be found, so individual licensing is not possible.

An extended collective license (ECL) makes it possible for your works to be used even if you do not have a management agreement with ProLitteris.

For you, this means:

Your works can be licensed under the ECL.
You receive a royalty as part of the main distribution of ProLitteris.
You can object for the future (opt out).

ProLitteris structures the licenses so that they are economically reasonable and practical. The goal is a fair royalty for processes that would otherwise often take place without legal certainty and without a royalty.

Extended collective licenses are also in the interest of rights holders and of copyright.

Previous experience shows that opt-out declarations are extremely rare.

Extended collective licenses make it possible to make collections and archives accessible to the public in a legally secure way.

Even if rights holders are not known or cannot be located, ProLitteris can still license a use. In addition to orphan works, an extended collective license can also include identified works, provided that normal management is not impaired.

This is particularly relevant when:

Works are only available in archives or collections.
Many authors or rights holders cannot be identified.
Cultural assets that are in the public interest are to be made available online.

The basis is Art. 43a CopA. This provision allows ProLitteris to grant a license with a defined purpose and scope.

This enables institutions to make cultural heritage, such as historical poster collections, accessible to the public without having to clarify each individual right.

Show all questions and answers