The following information is taken from the Newspaper Licensing Agency.
Everything printed in a newspaper belongs to someone; if you see an article you want to copy to someone else, you need the permission of the copyright owner. Until 1996, anyone who wanted, legally, to copy newspapers had to call each newspaper, each time.
In 1996, the Newspaper Licensing Agency was set up to offer anyone – sole traders, companies and any other body – a one-stop shop for a licence to copy, for internal management use, from all of the UK’s national newspapers and many regional and foreign titles, too.
The NLA offers rights to photocopy/fax and digitally copy and transmit cuttings for internal use – even specialised rights to distribute externally – all under one licence.
There is hardly an office in the country that doesn’t have a photocopier and fax; more and more have digital scanners and electronic communications. The opportunity for a properly motivated employee to pass on copies of information that you need and want, from newspapers and journals, is with you, every day. But, when your staff use your equipment – whether authorised or not – to copy someone else’s material, it is your company that is exposed – unless you are licensed.
This has been the case since photocopiers were first invented. However, copyright owners will indemnify past copying for a one-off fee from 1996, when the NLA started to offer blanket licences. A full indemnity fee can be substantially discounted in return for speedy return of the application.
For additional information please visit the Newspaper Licensing Website at
www.nla.co.uk
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