Copyright
Photocopying and Scanning
The photocopying and scanning of extracts from books and journals are currently covered by the Copyright Licensing Agency’s (CLA) Higher Education Photocopying and Scanning Licence Agreement.
Below are listed the main points of the Agreement and the issues you should take into consideration to make sure you comply with it. If you are in doubt, please contact the library.
Photocopying
It is permitted to photocopy extracts from most books, journals, conference proceedings and law reports in the UK except those on the CLA’s List of Excluded Categories and Excluded Works.
What can be copied?
- 5% or one chapter of a book
- 5% or one article of a journal
- 5% or one paper of one set of conference proceedings
- 5% or one report of a single case from a law report
- 5% of an anthology of short stories/poems or one short story/poem of not more than 10 pages
Staff and students can make and receive copies for personal use; paper course packs can be made for distribution to students on a particular course.
Scanning
Books, journals and magazines published in the UK can be scanned except those that are on the CLA’s excluded lists.
Only designated persons can make digital copies; this is currently a member of library staff. Please go to the Library Digitisation Service pages to make a request.
The rules on quantity are the same as for photocopying above, for example 5% or one chapter of a book.
Access to the scanned documents is only allowed to students that have enrolled on the course. The scanned documents must not be stored in open resources such as repositories or staff web pages; they can only be accessed via the VLE or emailed directly to students registered on the module. The integrity of the original document must be preserved.
If you wish to have an extract of a book or a journal article scanned, but it does not comply with the Licence, you can still make a request and we will investigate whether an alternative route is possible. We work with HERON - a body that will seek copyright clearance from the publisher.
What is outside the scope of the Licence?
- E-books and e-journals
- Printed music: refer to the Music Publishers Association Code of Fair Practice
- Maps, charts or books of tables: the Ordnance Survey has its own licensing scheme for OS maps
- Public examination papers: you will need to seek permission from individual exam boards
- Workbooks, work cards and assignment sheets: they are for ‘once-only’ use
- Privately owned documents: issued for tuition purposes and limited to fee paying clientele
- Newspapers: refer to the Newspaper Licensing Agency (NLA)
- Industrial house journals: primarily for distribution to employees
- ‘Copying not permitted’ publications
- Publications in the ‘List of Excluded Categories and Excluded Works’
- Works published outside the ‘Mandating Territories’: mandating territories have entered into reciprocal arrangements.
- Works published by non-participating US publishers
- Unpublished material: dissertations, company reports
For more details see the CLA Web-site
Last Updated: 13 January 2010