UK education providers have been given more flexibility to duplicate copyrighted works after the Copyright Licensing Agency (CLA) voted to relax its licensing arrangements.
The temporary measures are designed to support schools, colleges, and universities throughout the coronavirus pandemic as teachers and students work from home.
Under the new rules – agreed by copyright holders – education providers will benefit from increased access to copyright learning resources. This includes the relaxation of the requirement for a higher education institution (HEI) to own an original copy of a book so they can now make use of “any extract held in the Digital Content Store (DCS)” or “an original copy owned by an academic”.
Likewise, the CLA has increased the extent limit for copying from print books so providers can now copy up to 30 per cent or three chapters – whichever is the greater. This is compared to the usual 10 per cent or one chapter. This change applies to books published by participating publishers only.
Likewise, both amendments apply “only where a digital edition is not available through commercial channels and continues until the earlier of the return to normality, or 30 June 2020”.
Commenting on the changes, CLA Director of Education Philip Hearne said rightsholders “recognise the difficult time” currently facing education providers.
“We are delighted to announce this support package today, due to swift backing from our Members and the publishers, authors and visual artists they represent. These temporary measures will improve availability of book content for staff and students over this difficult period,” he said.
James Bennett, Head of Rights and Licensing at CLA, added: “We are pleased to have been able to work constructively with CNAC, listening to the sector’s challenges and developing a targeted response supported by rightsholder.”
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