Facts
On September 30, 2004 and September 30, 2005, respectively, five collecting societies submitted a new Common Tariff 4d to the Arbitration Commission for approval. The tariff provides for remuneration on digital storage media such as microchips or hard drives and similar digital blank carriers for the private copying of works and performances with pure audio recording devices and combined audiovisual recording devices. The Arbitration Commission approved the tariff with some amendments. Various administrative court appeals against this decision were filed with the Federal Supreme Court.Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court decided that Art. 20 para. 3 of the Swiss Copyright Act (URG) provides a sufficient legal basis for the Common Tariff 4d, both for the permanently installed storage in recording devices (hard drives) and for the interchangeable storage or chip cards (flash memories). The Arbitration Commission did not exceed or abuse its discretion and margin of appreciation in setting the tariff.
However, the entry into force and the duration of the tariff must be redetermined. The tariff does not enter into force…