The Copyright Licensing Agency (CLA) will be conducting a photocopying data collection exercise at UCL in January 2020 for six weeks.

UCL holds a CLA Higher Education licence and it is part of our licence agreement that they occasionally undertake this survey; the last was held at UCL in 2010.  The purpose of the exercise is for the CLA to gather information to inform how they redistribute money to authors and publishers: it is also referred to as a ‘Royalties data’ exercise.

If you are a member of UCL staff who prepares teaching material for students, then this exercise is relevant to you!

The data collection involves a CLA field officer placing a large yellow box next to selected UCL MFDs (multi-functional devices), for teaching staff to drop in a copy of the item they are photocopying.  Near the box will be a notice to explaining the process, plus some sticky data labels.

• If you are photocopying from a UCL MFD (not digitising);
• for teaching purposes (for example making multiple copies to hand to students in class);
• and from a published resource such as a book or journal, then:

Please take a photocopy of the identifying page of the text, e.g. the front page or the reverse side with copyright information on. The information needed is title, author, publisher details, ISSN, etc.  Complete a data label, stick it to the identifying page you have just photocopied;  post this into the yellow box.  Only the identifying page is needed, not the whole extract you are copying.

 

The collection will take place from 13^th January to the 21^st February 2020: the yellow boxes will start to appear from 6th January and will be removed in the week of 24th February.

There are some FAQs below.  If any questions are not addressed here, please don’t hesitate to contact Hazel Ingrey or UCL Copyright.

 

FAQs

Why is this exercise necessary?

The CLA use this data to inform their secondary royalty payments to authors and publishers. They collect data from all institutions that hold a CLA licence and use this to pay rights holders.

 

I don’t see a yellow CLA box next to my copier.

As UCL is so large, with in excess of 800 MFDs, ISD has assisted the CLA in making a representative selection of around 170 copiers.  If there is no CLA box you don’t need to participate in the data collection.

 

I don’t photocopy for my class, only use digital readings.  Do I need to submit any extra data?

No.  If you are linking to subscribed resources through your online reading list, you are not using any licence (indeed not even copying) and don’t need to report this.

If you are using the CLA licence by digitising through the TLS course readings service, then reporting requirements are already covered for you.

 

I am photocopying for my research, do I need to add a copy to the box?

No.  The CLA licence only covers copying for teaching purposes.  If you are copying for your own private study or research, and only making one copy for your use, then you don’t need to add anything to the box.  Your copying will likely fall under a CDPA copyright exception (for example s.29) instead.

 

Can I photocopy anything?

Only published material is relevant for this exercise.  In addition, you should always bear in mind what the CLA licence actually covers when copying readings for your class (in any format).

For reassurance you can use the TLS course readings service to double-check what is covered.  More details are on the library CLA information page; you can use the CLA ‘check permissions’ search (make sure you opt for the HE licence); and the CLA User Guidelines.

Whilst this is not an audit, the CLA will be aware from the collection data if you are breaching their licence.

 

Does a studypack count?

If you are photocopying a few readings to make up a studypack, then yes!  In fact you can right now submit any study packs online to the CLA Cloud. 

Login Name:    UCL                    Password: (Please email UCL Copyright for the password)

This will remain open until 21^st February 2020.

 

Is there anything else we can do to prepare?

You could double-check that your local MFD has an up to date CLA notice poster near it, and that your colleagues are aware of the CLA licence.

 

I’m an author: how do I get paid secondary royalties from the CLA and other collecting societies?!

Salient question.  If you are an author you can join the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS).  There is a sign-up fee (currently £36) and this fee is deducted from your first royalty cheque.  ALCS also take commission.

 

How do I learn more about the CLA and other licences that UCL holds?

The library also manages the NLA and ERA licences.  Do get in touch for more information on using these in your teaching.

For an overview to using copyright works in teaching or research, the UCL Copyright Support Officer Chris Holland is very happy to visit your department or student class to deliver a quick session or answer questions!