Copying under the CLA Licence

Under the Licence, all registered students and members of staff can make copies, including honorary members of staff and visiting academics. If you are seeking to make digital copies, please see details of the Library's Digitisation Service. 

What can be copied? 

The Licence - subject to terms and conditions - allows you to copy text and still images from:

• Print publications owned by the University including:

books, journals/periodicals/magazines, law reports and conference proceedings published in the UK plus many overseas  publications

• Digital publications owned or subscribed to by the University including:

           E-books, E-journals and some free-to-view and subscription websites

If in doubt use the CLA Check Permissions tool to see if a UK publication or overseas publication is covered by the Licence.

What can't be copied? 

None of the following are covered by the Licence and can't be copied:

• Printed music - including the words within a book, journal, magazine etc
• Maps & charts - works entirely of maps/charts or books, journals, magazines with maps/charts
• Workbooks, workcards & assignment sheets - materials intended to be written on and for once-use only
• Newspapers
• Any publication clearly stating that it must not be copied under a CLA Licence. This notice normally appears at the front of a publication

How much can I copy? 

Under the fair dealing provisions of the 1988 Act the amount that can be copied is undefined.

However, the CLA Licence sets out clear limitations on the proportions of a work that can be copied. You can copy up to the following amount for each course/module:

• One whole chapter from a book

• One whole article from a magazine/journal issue

• One whole paper from a set of conference proceedings

• One whole report of a single case from a volume of judicial proceedings

• One whole scene from a play

• One short story, poem or play (not exceeding 10 pages in length) from an anthology

Or 10% of the total publication of any of the above, whichever is the greater.

Some points to bear in mind

Editions of a work: you can copy from any edition of a published work but NOT more than 10% (or one chapter, article) from different editions of the same publication.

Parts or sections of a book: although not called chapters if they appear similar to a chapter in content, then you can copy the whole part or section as for a chapter

Notes and/or references: if integral to a chapter or article (usually at end of book or journal) they should be treated as part of that chapter or article

Blank pages and advertisements: these can be omitted when calculating 10% of any extract to be copied

Short chapters or articles: if two chapters or articles comprise less than 10% of the total publication, both can be copied

Digital copies: there is no limit to the number of times a digital copy can be opened and viewed on screen

Who can I make copies for? 

You can make and distribute copies for registered students and members of staff at the University associated with a particular course or module. This includes all campus based students and distance learners, but not overseas students.

You can make as many paper copies that are required so that each student studying a course/module, and tutors teaching it, have access to a copy.

Types of copying

The CLA licence allows you to make paper copies and digital copies:

• Paper copies includes photocopies of extracts from printed books, journals, magazines, law reports and conference proceedings, and printouts of extracts from digital publications
• Digital copies includes scanned extracts from printed books, journals, magazines, law reports and conference proceedings, and extracts copied from digital publications. If you are looking to make digital copies, please make use of the Library's Digitisation Service.