Copyright and other Licences

The University holds licences issued by a number of agencies acting on behalf of various rights holders. In return for the licence fee, which goes towards payment to the rights holder, the institution may copy and utilise certain materials within set guidelines. It is essential to recognise that these licences relate solely to use within the context of educational purposes. They do not cover the publishing of works, the further broadcasting of material nor its public performance.

Aberystwyth University currently holds licences issued by:

Copyright Licensing Agency (CLA) – for details of the CLA Licence limitations see the main Copyright page, but be aware of the CLA ‘Excluded Categories and Works List’.

Newspaper Licensing Agency (NLA) – this permits the photocopying of articles from some national and regional newspapers. Most national dailies and Sunday newspapers are covered along with the Western Mail and the Cambrian News. The licence permits the copying of up to 250 copies of one cutting to be used within the University.

Design and Artists Copyright Society (DACS) – this permits the copying of artistic works onto slides, acetates and transparencies. Those that are copied under the licence should be clearly labelled and Information Services should be informed of their existence.

Educational Recording Agency (ERA) – this permits the recording of UK radio and television broadcasts. All recordings made post-1990 can currently be retained indefinitely but there are some limitations relating to recordings made prior to this. Both full programmes and extracts of programmes can be recorded, but further editing, such as separation of images from sound track, is not permitted. Copies can be made but the same limitations apply, e.g. use for educational purposes only, not to be hired out, etc. All recordings must be adequately labelled, showing date, time and title of recording, and the statement: “This recording is to be used only under the terms of the ERA Licence”. Pre-printed labels can be ordered from the ERA website.

Open University (OU) – this permits the recording of Open University television programmes, though they must be recorded in their entirety and only by Media Services.

Ordnance Survey (OS) – this covers making copies of OS material for teaching and educational purposes, the use of mapping in brochures and prospectuses and permits a number of other limited uses within education and academic research. It does not cover sale or distribution to the public or the digitising and scanning of OS mapping.

For further information relating to our licences please contact Jonathan Davies, Data Protection and Copyright Manager (mpd@aber.ac.uk).