Reporter 7/5/98: Copyright Licensing: Notice

Copyright Licensing: Notice

The agreement between the University and the Copyright Licensing Agency (CLA), which governs the making of multiple photocopies of printed material for teaching purposes, has been renewed for a further period from 1 April 1998 to 31 January 2001. Details of the new licence have been distributed to Heads of Department and to libraries, and are also contained in the Higher Education Copying Accord, agreed between the CLA and the Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals, which was published in the Times Higher Education Supplement dated 17 April 1998.

The basic licence allows the ad hoc copying of one chapter or 5 per cent from any book, and one article from any issue of a journal, in connexion with any one course of study. However, systematic copying intended to produce 'course packs' is not covered by the basic licence.

A 'course pack' is:

a compilation (whether bound or looseleaf) of four or more photocopied extracts from one or more sources, totalling over 25 pages of copyright material, designed to support a module or course of study, irrespective of whether the materials are copied at the start of the course, or at intervals during the duration of the course ...

...the phrase 'module or course of study' refers to any segment of a student's studies which is normally regarded by the institution as a discrete and self-contained unit for the purposes of examination or assessment, and which as such would normally carry an overall mark or value counting towards the student's final qualification.

(From the Higher Education Copying Accord, 1998.)

Any member of the University wishing to make such a course pack should obtain permission through the CLA's Rapid Clearance Service (CLARCS), for which a fee will be payable. Please contact the Copyright Licensing Co-ordinator, Scientific Periodicals Library, Bene't Street (tel. 334741, e-mail smd15@cam.ac.uk) if you wish to make an application to CLARCS, or have any other questions about the licence agreement.

The CLA licence deals only with the making of multiple copies for teaching purposes. It does not affect the right to make single copies for the purposes of research or private study under the fair dealing provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

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