Suissimage

Name

Suissimage

Legal name

Schweizerische Genossenschaft für Urheberrechte an audiovisuellen Werken

Website

https://suissimage.ch

Company type

Private

Founded year

1981

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Swiss non-profit cooperative managing collective audiovisual copyright for screenwriters, directors, and producers, collecting royalties from broadcasters, streaming platforms, and other users across Switzerland and Liechtenstein.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Collective Rights Management for Audiovisual Works

NAICS

Music Publishers (51223), Music Publishers (512230)

SIC

Patent Owners & Lessors (6794)

akta.pro primary industry

Publishing Administration (Catalog Admin, Global Subpublishing) (MPAIABAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Global Rights Representation & Sub-Publishing/Reciprocal Collection Services (MPAIAKAI), Performance Rights Administration (PRO Affiliation, Cue Sheet/Setlist Processing) (MPAIABAE), Public Performance/Neighboring Rights for AV Uses (Cue Sheet & Reporting Services) (MPAIALAK), Contracting, Licensing & Rights Management (Music/Performance Releases) (HSACAHAM)

Keywords

• Collective rights management
• Audiovisual copyright licensing
• Royalty collection services
• Intellectual property management
• Copyright collective society

Headquarters

HQ city

Bern

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Collective Rights Management Royalties: Suissimage collects royalties from users of audiovisual content (TV broadcasters, cable networks, streaming services, public screenings) based on negotiated tariffs. 10% of revenue is allocated to the Cultural Foundation and Solidarity Foundation, while 90% is distributed to individual rights holders. Administrative costs are less than 4%.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Suissimage collectively manages copyright and neighboring rights for Swiss audiovisual works on behalf of authors (screenwriters, directors) and rights holders (producers, distributors). It negotiates tariffs with user associations, grants licenses to users of audiovisual content (TV broadcasters, cable networks, streaming platforms, public screenings, schools, organizations), collects royalties, and distributes approximately 96 cents of every franc to rights holders (90% after retaining 10% for its Cultural and Solidarity foundations). Member services include legal advice, script deposit, and an expertise service for script authorship disputes, with international reach through 98 sister societies in 45 countries.

Product overview

Suissimage is a Swiss collective copyright management cooperative for audiovisual works, organized as a single unified service rather than a platform-plus-modules architecture. The core offering centers on collective rights management for screenwriters, directors, and other audiovisual copyright holders, including legal services, script deposit, and expertise services. Digital services include a member portal for online account management. The organization operates two autonomous foundations: the Cultural Foundation (Kulturfonds) providing financial support programs for Swiss film production including automatic production support, the Momentum competition, series writing grants, and event distribution support; and the Solidarity Foundation providing social welfare support including pensions and assistance to cinema professionals in precarity. An educational program called respect ©opyright! provides copyright law instruction to secondary school students. Meeting facilities are also available to members.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Kulturfonds / Fondation culturelle Suissimage: Cultural foundation supporting Swiss film production through automatic aid programs, Momentum competition, series writing grants, and event distribution support.
• Solidaritätsfonds / Fonds de solidarité Suissimage
• respect ©opyright!

Products and services

• Script Registry (Dépôt de scénarios) Free service for depositing manuscripts and screenplays, available to Suissimage members and any concerned party, used to evidence authorship and creation date in case of disputes.
• Legal Services Legal advisory and contract-checking services for members on copyright law and cinematic production, including verification of contracts between producers and screenwriters/directors.
• Expertise Service for Script Disputes Independent expert evaluation service for script authorship disputes when multiple screenwriters work on a project; available to members and commissioning clients for a modest fee.
• Member Portal Online portal where members access services, submit work declarations, manage accounts, and communicate with Suissimage (login required).
• Conference Rooms Free meeting rooms for members and audiovisual industry associations, located near Bern and Lausanne train stations, with technical infrastructure and refreshments provided.
• Cultural Foundation - Automatic Production Support Automatic financial support from the Cultural Foundation for feature film production projects (fiction, animation, documentary) destined for theatrical release, capped at CHF 150,000 per film.
• Momentum Competition Competition from the Cultural Foundation funding audiovisual projects that must be realized immediately to capitalize on timing opportunities, with a CHF 600,000 budget for 2026.
• Series Writing Grant (Bourse pour l'écriture de séries) Joint program with SSA Cultural Fund supporting writing and development of fiction, documentary, or animation series, with an annual budget of CHF 200,000.
• Event Distribution Support Cultural Foundation support for Swiss distribution companies developing event release strategies in cinemas, with CHF 1,000 per event up to CHF 8,000 per film.
• Free Support (Freie Förderung) Occasional, targeted cultural foundation support for initiatives concerning new projects or particular events that do not fall under existing programs but present interest for the Swiss audiovisual industry.
• Solidarity Foundation Support Social support foundation established in 1989, funded by 10% of Suissimage revenues, providing welfare benefits to Swiss cinema professionals in precarity and retirement pensions to members over 62.
• respect ©opyright! Interactive educational program on copyright law for upper secondary school students, developed jointly with SUISA, ProLitteris, SSA, and SWISSPERFORM, addressing copying, editing, citing, and artificial intelligence usage.

Quantifiable outcome

• Administrative costs less than 4%, with 96 centimes per franc transferred to rights holders
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• 98 Foreign Collective Rights SocietiescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerReciprocal agreements with 98 sister societies in 45 countries enable Suissimage to collect royalties for Swiss rights holders from foreign use and distribute royalties to foreign rights holders from Swiss use. This international network is fundamental to the organization's mandate.
• SUISA, ProLitteris, SSA, SWISSPERFORMcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint operation of the respect ©opyright! educational program for secondary school students on copyright awareness, celebrating 20 years in 2026. This five-society initiative provides interactive introduction to copyright law.
• ARF/FDS, SRG SSR, SSAcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint creation and support of the Expertise Service for script disputes. This service provides independent expert evaluations for conflicts regarding authorship shares in screenplays, serving members of these institutions.
• SSA (Swiss Writers Association)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint cultural funding programs including the 'Bourse pour l'écriture de séries' (series writing scholarship) with annual funding of CHF 200,000, and the Momentum competition for urgent film production support.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• ProLitteris: Swiss cooperative for visual arts and literary rights. Direct peer in the Swiss collective rights management ecosystem, co-developing joint educational programs with Suissimage.
• SWISSPERFORM: Swiss collective rights management society for neighboring rights (performers and producers). Direct peer in the same collective management mandate, with closely aligned structural model and joint industry initiatives.
• SUISA: Swiss cooperative for music rights management (not audiovisual). Direct peer in the same Swiss collective rights management ecosystem, jointly operating programs like respect ©opyright! and serving overlapping members.
• SSA (Société Suisse des Auteurices et Auteurs): Swiss collective rights society for audiovisual and theatrical authors. Direct peer for screenwriting and audiovisual rights; jointly runs the Series Writing Scholarship program with Suissimage.

Broad incumbents

• SACEM (Société des Auteurs, Compositeurs et Éditeurs de Musique): France's largest collective rights management organization. Comparable as a much larger European audiovisual/music rights management incumbent with broader portfolio scope and similar statutory mandate.
• PRS for Music: UK-based collective rights management organization for music and lyrics. Comparable as a major international PRO with reciprocal agreements and similar role in royalty collection and distribution.
• GEMA: Germany's largest collective rights management organization for music authors and publishers. Comparable as a major European rights society with similar statutory tariff structure and reciprocal agreement network.
• JASRAC: Japanese Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers. Comparable as a major international collective rights management organization with similar tariff negotiation and distribution model.

Regional players

• Copyright Licensing and Collecting Society (CLCS) - Copydan: Danish umbrella organization for collective rights management. Comparable as a small European peer with similar cooperative structure and reciprocity-based royalty collection model.
• Visual Copyright Society Sweden (Bildupphovsrätt): Swedish collective rights management organization for visual and audiovisual works. Comparable as a regional European counterpart in the same collective rights management field.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/suissimage

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Suissimage