Copyright for music users
Under the Copyright Act, the individuals who write music and lyrics - authors - are entitled to remuneration when their music is performed in public. You need the author's permission to play music at your place of business - permission is obtained via a music licence from STIM.
STIM makes it easy for you to play music.
Authors have granted STIM the right to manage their financial rights. If you use music at your place of business, you do not need to obtain permission from each individual author; rather, a music licence from STIM is sufficient. The fees are then distributed to the authors.
What happens if I do not pay?
Under the Copyright Act, you are obligated to pay when you play protected music in public. If you use music that STIM monitors without paying for its use, you are committing a crime. A number of cases have been heard at court over the years.
I already pay to SAMI
SAMI is the organisation for musicians and artists. STIM and SAMI are two completely separate organisations. The Copyright Act defines artists/musicians as creative artists, while the individuals who write the songs (music, lyrics or arrangement) are defined as authors. Thus there are two different groups of rights and copyright owners, which means you must have licence from both STIM and SAMI when you play music at your place of business.
I pay for a TV licence, do I still have to pay to STIM?
The fee you pay to Radiotjänst funds public service TV and radio. Authors do not receive any of the TV fee. This means you must pay to STIM even if you pay a TV licence fee to Radiotjänst.