Terms, privacy, cookies

Publisher of the website

This website is published and operated by the company named below, incorporated under Swiss law and active in music publishing and artist representation.

• Registered name and legal form: OTTO Publishing Sàrl
• Registered office: Chemin de la Scie 4, 1290 Versoix, Switzerland
• Business identification number (UID/IDE): CHE-255.155.506
• VAT number: CHE-255.155.506 VAT
• Email: contact@otto-music.com

Editorial responsibility

Responsibility for the content published on this website, including artist pages, news articles and press material, lies with OTTO Publishing Sàrl.

Any request concerning the editorial content of this website can be addressed to the email address above.

Hosting and technical operation

The website is hosted by the provider below. The provider acts as a processor on our instructions and has no editorial control over the content.

• Host: Infomaniak Network SA
• Address: Rue Eugène-Marziano 25, 1227 Les Acacias, Switzerland
• Hosting region / server location: Switzerland (Infomaniak's own data centres)
• Website design and development: OpenGraphy SRL, Brussels, Belgium

1. Publisher and purpose

2. Acceptance and amendments

3. Definitions

4. Access to the Website

5. Permitted use

6. Prohibited use

7. Intellectual property in the Website

8. Musical works, recordings and licensing

9. Artist names, trademarks and press material

10. Notification of infringements

11. Artist submissions

12. Enquiries and communications

13. Website provided “as is”

14. Liability

15. Indemnification

16. Third-party websites and embedded content

17. Personal data and cookies

18. Suspension and termination of access

19. Force majeure

20. General provisions

21. Governing law and jurisdiction

1. Who we are

OTTO Publishing Sàrl (“OTTO”, “we”, “us” or “our”) is the controller responsible for the processing of the personal data described in this privacy policy (the “Policy”).

Any question relating to this Policy or to the processing of your personal data may be addressed to contact@otto-music.com.

2. Scope of this Policy

This Policy explains how we collect, use, share, store and protect personal data when you:

1. visit or use our website at otto-music.com (the “Website”);
2. contact us through the contact form of the Website, by email, by telephone or through our accounts on Instagram, TikTok and Facebook;
3. submit your music for evaluation through the “Join” form (a “Submission”);
4. send us a request for a licence of a work of our catalogue (a “Licence Request”);
5. correspond with us as a journalist, a business partner or a representative of an artist, a label, a collecting society or another organisation.

2.1 Applicable law

We process personal data in accordance with:

1. the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection of 25 September 2020 (FADP, SR 235.1) and the Data Protection Ordinance of 31 August 2022 (DPO, SR 235.11); and
2. Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (the General Data Protection Regulation, “GDPR”), to the extent that it applies to our activities, in particular where we offer our services to individuals located in the European Union or the European Economic Area (Article 3(2) GDPR).

Where both regimes apply to the same processing, we apply the standard that offers you the higher level of protection.

2.2 What this Policy does not cover

This Policy does not cover:

1. the processing carried out in the performance of a publishing, administration, licence or other agreement concluded with us, which is governed by that agreement and by the information provided upon its conclusion;
2. the processing carried out by third-party services that you use to interact with us or to host your music, including streaming platforms, video platforms, social networks and the providers of the players embedded on the Website, whose own privacy policies apply;
3. the processing carried out by collecting societies, which act as independent controllers.

3. The personal data we collect

We collect only the data we need for the purposes described in section 5. The data collected depend on the way in which you interact with us.

3.1 Contact data

Your name, your email address, the role you select (songwriter, composer, producer, artist or other), the content of your message, your confirmation that you have read this Policy, and the date and time of sending. If you contact us by email or telephone, we also process the contact details you use and the information you choose to give us.

3.2 Submission data

Your name and any artist or stage name; your email address; your role (songwriter, composer, producer, artist or other); the place where you are based, if you provide it; the links to your music and to your profiles on streaming platforms, video platforms or social networks; the content of your message, including your biography, credits, co-writers and any existing commitment you disclose; the music and accompanying material accessible through those links, which may contain your voice, image and performance; and the internal evaluation notes prepared by our team; and your confirmation that you have read this Policy.

3.3 Licence Request data

Your name, organisation, role and contact details; the description of the project concerned, including its title, production, media, territory, term, budget and intended use; and the correspondence, quotes and drafts exchanged with you.

3.4 Business and press contact data

Your name, organisation, function and professional contact details, and the correspondence exchanged with you.

3.5 Communications data

The content and metadata of our email correspondence with you, and the notes of our calls and meetings.

3.6 Technical and usage data

When you visit the Website, the server of our host records access and error logs containing your IP address, the date and time of access, the address of the page requested, the response code, the referring page and the identifier of your browser (user agent). For each form sent, the Website itself records only technical metadata, namely the date of sending, the recipient address and the role selected, without your name, email address or message. To limit abuse, your IP address is kept in the working memory of the server for no more than ten minutes, in order to restrict submissions to three per IP address every ten minutes; it is never written to disk.

3.7 Data collected only with your consent

Where you accept statistics cookies, Google Analytics 4 collects data on your use of the Website, such as the pages viewed, the duration of the visit, the referring website, the type of device and browser and an approximate location, associated with a random identifier stored in a cookie. According to Google, Google Analytics 4 does not log or store IP addresses.

Google reCAPTCHA collects on the pages containing a form your IP address, information on your browser and device and data on your behaviour on the page, in order to determine whether the form is being completed by a human.

We do not request sensitive data (see section 6) and do not collect payment card data through the Website.

4. Where we obtain your data

Directly from you. Most of the data we hold is provided by you when you complete a form, send us an email or correspond with us.

From persons acting on your behalf. A manager, lawyer, label, publisher or co-writer may send us a Submission or correspondence concerning you. In that case we rely on that person to be authorised to share your data and to have informed you. You may exercise your rights directly with us.

From publicly available sources. When we evaluate a Submission or prepare a collaboration, we may consult the information you have made public on streaming platforms and social networks, in the press and in the public databases of collecting societies, such as credits, release history and audience figures. We use this information solely for the evaluation of the Submission or the preparation of the collaboration.

Automatically from your device. Technical and usage data are generated automatically when you use the Website, as described in section 3.6 and in our Cookie Policy.

5. Purposes and legal bases

We process personal data in accordance with the principles of the FADP, in particular lawfulness, good faith, proportionality, purpose limitation and accuracy. Where the GDPR applies, each processing relies on the legal basis indicated below.

5.1 Our legitimate interests

Where we rely on Article 6(1)(f) GDPR, our interests consist in identifying new talent and developing our catalogue, responding to the persons who contact us, protecting the Website against abuse, and defending our rights and those of the writers we represent. We have weighed these interests against your rights and freedoms. You may object to this processing at any time (see section 12).

5.2 Whether you must provide your data

The fields marked as mandatory in our forms are necessary to handle your request. If you do not complete them, we will not be able to respond to your enquiry, to evaluate your Submission or to examine your Licence Request. The other data are optional.

5.3 Change of purpose

We do not process your data for a purpose incompatible with the purpose for which they were collected. If we intend to do so, we will inform you beforehand and, where required, ask for your consent.

6. Sensitive data and minors

We do not request any data deserving special protection within the meaning of Article 5(c) FADP or Article 9 GDPR, such as data relating to health, religious, philosophical or political views, ethnic origin or sexual orientation. Lyrics, biographies or artistic material may nonetheless reveal such information. We process it only as part of the artistic material evaluated and do not record it separately in our evaluation notes. Where that material has been manifestly made public by you, the processing relies on Article 9(2)(e) GDPR.

The Website is not directed at children. A person under eighteen years of age may send us a Submission only with the consent of his or her legal representative. If we learn that we have received the data of a child under sixteen years of age without that consent, we delete them.

7. Automated decisions and artificial intelligence

Every Submission is listened to and reviewed by members of our team. We do not use algorithms or automated tools to evaluate, rank or select Submissions, and we do not take decisions based solely on automated processing which produce legal effects concerning you or significantly affect you, within the meaning of Article 21 FADP and Article 22 GDPR.

Google reCAPTCHA automatically assesses whether a form is being completed by a human or by a robot. This assessment serves only to protect the forms. It does not concern the content of your message or Submission and is not a decision concerning you within the meaning of the provisions above.

8. Who receives your data

8.1 Within OTTO

Access to your data within OTTO is restricted to the members of our team whose function requires it. They are bound by an obligation of confidentiality which survives the end of their engagement.

8.2 Processors acting on our instructions

We rely on the following providers, each acting on our documented instructions under a written agreement satisfying Article 9 FADP and Article 28 GDPR, which includes obligations of confidentiality and security.

The use of Google reCAPTCHA is also subject to the Google Privacy Policy and the Google Terms of Service.

8.3 Independent controllers

Where a collaboration or a licence is formed, we disclose to the collecting societies, sub-publishers, co-publishers, labels and licensees concerned the data necessary for the registration of the works and the payment of royalties, such as your name, IPI number and ownership shares. These recipients process the data as independent controllers. The same applies to the providers of embedded content and to social networks when you activate their content or interact with them.

8.4 Our social media accounts

The Website contains links to our accounts on Instagram, TikTok and Facebook, and to the pages of our artists on platforms such as Spotify and YouTube. No data are transmitted to these providers until you click on one of these links. When you visit our accounts or interact with them, Meta Platforms Ireland Limited and TikTok Technology Limited process your data under their own responsibility and in accordance with their own privacy policies. For our Facebook page and our Instagram professional account, Meta provides us with aggregated statistics on the use of these accounts; for that processing, we act as joint controllers with Meta, which has assumed primary responsibility for it under its own terms. The messages and comments you send us through these accounts are processed by us in order to respond to you.

8.5 Professional advisers and authorities

We may disclose personal data to our lawyers, auditors and insurers where necessary for the defence of our rights, and to authorities and courts where we are legally required to do so. In such cases we disclose only the minimum required and, where the law permits, we inform you.

8.6 Corporate transactions

If we are involved in a reorganisation, merger, acquisition or transfer of all or part of our catalogue or activities, personal data may be disclosed to the counterparty and its advisers, subject to confidentiality undertakings. This Policy continues to apply to the data transferred.

We do not sell personal data and do not share them for third-party advertising purposes.

9. Where your data is stored and international transfers

9.1 Storage

The Website is hosted by Infomaniak Network SA in its own data centres in Switzerland, where the server logs and the backups of the Website are also kept.

9.2 Transfers outside Switzerland

Personal data may be accessed from, or transferred to, the following destinations:

A copy of the applicable safeguards may be obtained from us on request.

10. How long we keep your data

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which they were collected:

Once the applicable period has expired, we delete the data or anonymize them irreversibly. Where the data are required for the establishment, exercise or defense of legal claims, we retain them until the matter is finally resolved, with access restricted accordingly.

11. Security

We implement technical and organizational measures appropriate to the risk, including the encryption of data in transit (HTTPS), the absence of any database on the Website, so that form submissions are not stored on its server, access control based on the least-privilege principle, multi-factor authentication for the accounts of our team, the protection of our forms by an invisible control field, a limit of three submissions per IP address every ten minutes and Google reCAPTCHA, daily backups, and the periodic review of these measures. No transmission over the internet can, however, be guaranteed to be entirely secure.

Where a breach of data security is likely to result in a high risk to your personality or fundamental rights, we notify the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner as soon as possible pursuant to Article 24 FADP and, where the GDPR applies, the competent supervisory authority within seventy-two hours pursuant to Article 33 GDPR. We inform you where the law so requires or where this is necessary for your protection.

12. Your rights

Subject to the conditions and limitations provided by law, you have the following rights:

1. Right of access: to obtain confirmation as to whether we process your data, a copy of those data and information about the processing (Article 25 FADP; Article 15 GDPR).
2. Right to rectification: to have inaccurate or incomplete data corrected or completed (Article 32(1) FADP; Article 16 GDPR).
3. Right to erasure: to have your data deleted where the conditions are met (Article 32(2)(c) FADP; Article 17 GDPR).
4. Right to restriction: to have the processing of your data suspended in the cases provided for by law (Article 18 GDPR).
5. Right to data portability: to receive the data you provided to us in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format, and to have them transmitted to another controller (Article 28 FADP; Article 20 GDPR).
6. Right to object: to object at any time to the processing of your data based on our legitimate interests, on grounds relating to your particular situation (Article 30(2)(b) and 32(2) FADP; Article 21(1) GDPR). We then cease the processing unless we demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds, or the processing is necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims. Where we process your data for direct marketing, you may object at any time without giving reasons (Article 21(2) GDPR).
7. Right to withdraw your consent: at any time and as easily as it was given, without affecting the lawfulness of the processing carried out before the withdrawal (Article 7(3) GDPR).
8. Right to contact the supervisory authority: you may report a processing to the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner, Feldeggweg 1, 3003 Bern (Article 49 FADP), or, if you reside or work in the European Economic Area, lodge a complaint with the supervisory authority of your place of residence or work (Article 77 GDPR).

13. How to exercise your rights

Send your request to contact@otto-music.com or by post to our registered office. We may ask you for information allowing us to verify your identity, limited to what is necessary for that purpose.

We respond within thirty days of receipt (Article 18 DPO). Where the GDPR applies and a request is complex or numerous, we may extend this period by up to two further months, in which case we inform you within the first month and explain the reason (Article 12(3) GDPR). Exercising your rights is free of charge, save where a request is manifestly unfounded, excessive or requires a disproportionate effort, in which case we may request a contribution to costs within the limits set by law.

Your rights may be restricted where the law so provides, in particular where we are under a legal obligation to retain the data concerned, or where compliance would disclose the personal data of third parties, such as co-writers or other artists.

14. Cookies and similar technologies

The Website itself does not set any cookie. Cookies are set only by Google Analytics 4, after you have given your consent, and by Google reCAPTCHA on the pages containing a form, after you have given your consent. The Website also stores in your browser your display preference on the Artists page and your cookie choices. The technologies used, their purposes, their duration and the means of managing your choices are described in our Cookie Policy.

15. Changes to this Policy and contact

We may amend this Policy to reflect changes to our activities, to our providers or to the applicable law. The date of the version in force appears on the first page. Where a change is material, in particular a new purpose or a new category of recipient, we inform you in advance on the Website and, where we hold your contact details in connection with an ongoing Submission or relationship, by email. Previous versions are archived and available on request.

For any question about this Policy or about the processing of your personal data:

OTTO Publishing Sàrl
Chemin de la Scie 4, 1290 Versoix, Switzerland
contact@otto-music.com

1. Purpose and scope

This cookie policy (the “Cookie Policy”) explains how OTTO Publishing Sàrl, Chemin de la Scie 4, 1290 Versoix, Switzerland (“OTTO”, “we”, “us” or “our”), uses cookies and similar technologies on the website accessible at otto-music.com (the “Website”), and how you can manage your choices.

The Website itself does not set any cookie, whether for its operation, for advertising or for tracking across websites. The only cookies present on your device as a result of your visit are set by two services provided by Google: Google Analytics 4, which measures the audience of the Website, and Google reCAPTCHA, which protects our forms against robots. The Website also uses the storage of your browser to remember your display preference and your cookie choices.

The processing of personal data collected through these technologies is further described in our Privacy Policy.

2. What cookies and similar technologies are

For convenience, all the technologies described below are referred to in this Cookie Policy as “cookies”.

3. Legal framework

In Switzerland, the storage and reading of information on your device are governed by Article 45c(b) of the Federal Telecommunications Act, which requires that you be informed of their use and of their purpose and that you be able to refuse them, and by the Federal Act on Data Protection.

For visitors located in the European Economic Area, the national laws implementing Article 5(3) of Directive 2002/58/EC (the ePrivacy Directive) and the GDPR require your prior consent for any storage or reading of information that is not strictly necessary for the provision of the service you have requested.

We apply the same standard to all visitors, wherever they are located: Google Analytics 4 and Google reCAPTCHA are loaded only after you have given your consent.

4. Categories of cookies

Strictly necessary. The record of your cookie choices is kept in your browser so that the banner is not displayed again on each page. It is set without your consent and cannot be disabled through our consent tool.

Preferences. When you choose to display the Artists page as a grid or as a list, your choice is kept in the local storage of your browser. This entry contains no personal data, is never transmitted to our server and is created only at your request.

Statistics. Google Analytics 4 measures the audience of the Website and the way in which it is used, in order to improve its content and operation. Its script and cookies are loaded only after you have given your consent.

Form protection. Google reCAPTCHA protects the contact form and the “Join” form against automated sending. It is loaded only on the pages containing a form (home page, contact page and “Join” page) and only after you have given your consent. If you refuse it, the forms remain available and are protected by an invisible control field and by a limit of three submissions per IP address every ten minutes.

Advertising and marketing. None are used on the Website.

5. Cookies used on the Website

The cookies and similar technologies used on the Website are listed below. This list is updated whenever an entry is added or removed.

Your consent, or your refusal, is stored for twelve months, after which you will be asked again.

6. Google services and other third parties

Google Analytics 4 and Google reCAPTCHA are provided by Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland. Their scripts are loaded from the servers of Google. Google may transfer the data collected to Google LLC in the United States, which is certified under the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework and its Swiss-U.S. extension.

Once you have given your consent, Google Analytics 4 transmits to Google data on your use of the Website, associated with the random identifier stored in its cookies. According to Google, Google Analytics 4 does not log or store IP addresses. We have set the retention of event data in Google Analytics 4 at fourteen months, and we only access aggregated statistics.

To determine whether a form is being completed by a human, Google reCAPTCHA transmits to Google in particular your IP address, information on your browser and device, and data on your behaviour on the page. The use of Google reCAPTCHA is subject to the Google Privacy Policy and the Google Terms of Service.

All other resources of the Website, including fonts, animation libraries, images and videos, are served from our own hosting, without any call to a third party. The Website contains no embedded content from third parties. The links to Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Spotify and YouTube are simple links, and no data are transmitted to these platforms until you click on them.

7. Managing your choices

Through our consent tool. On your first visit, a banner allows you to accept all non-essential cookies, to refuse them all, or to choose by category. Refusing is as simple as accepting, and the Website remains accessible if you refuse. You may change or withdraw your choice at any time through the “Cookie settings” link at the bottom of each page. Withdrawing your consent does not affect the lawfulness of the processing carried out before the withdrawal.

Through your browser. You may also configure your browser to refuse cookies, to be notified before a cookie is set, or to delete the cookies and the local storage data already stored. The relevant options are generally found in the privacy or security settings of the browser. Google also offers a browser add-on that prevents the transmission of data to Google Analytics.

If you delete the data of your browser, your choices are lost and the banner is displayed again on your next visit.

8. Your rights

Where the information collected through cookies constitutes personal data, you have the rights described in our Privacy Policy, in particular the rights of access, rectification, erasure and objection, and the right to contact the competent supervisory authority.

9. Changes to this Cookie Policy and contact

We may amend this Cookie Policy to reflect changes in the technologies used on the Website or in the applicable law. The date of the version in force appears on the first page. Where a change requires your consent, we will ask for it again through our consent tool.

For any question about this Cookie Policy:

OTTO Publishing Sàrl
Chemin de la Scie 4, 1290 Versoix, Switzerland
contact@otto-music.com