- The Copyright Licensing Agency
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The Copyright Licensing Agency (CLA)
The Official CLA logoIndustry Publishing Headquarters Saffron House, 6-10 Kirby Street, London Employees 60 The Copyright Licensing Agency is a UK non-profit organisation [1] based in London, England. Founded in 1983 by the Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS) and the Publishers' Licensing Society (PLS).[2], the 'CLA' issues collective licences on behalf of authors, visual artists and publishers. The organisation's home is Saffron House in Farringdon, London with additional offices in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Contents
Aim
The aim of the CLA is to obtain fair rewards for authors, visual artists and publishers for the copying of their work. CLA is a non-profit organisation and money collected in licence fees is distributed to the copyright owners after company costs have been deducted. In the financial year 2009/2010 CLA distributed £51.4m to authors, visual artists and publishers.[3]
International
As well as UK publications, CLA have agreements with reproduction rights organisations (RROs) that allow employees to copy works published in 30 other countries. CLA also work with The International Federation of Reproduction Rights Organisations (IFRRO) towards the development of international codes of conduct.
The Hargreaves Report (2011)
In March 2011, CLA released a report by Price Waterhouse Coopers into the economic impact of copyright in the UK. The report showed that £4.3 billion is estimated to have been invested in new content in the UK in 2007, of which £1.6 billion was invested in art and literature.[4] The report is being used to inform an independent review into intellectual property and growth, with particular reference to the digital economy. It has been commissioned by the government and is being led by Professor Ian Hargreaves.[5]
Copyright Law
CLA is a licensing body as defined by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
Governance
CLA has a Board of 15 Directors, 6 non-executive Directors nominated by ALCS, 6 non-executive Directors nominated by PLS, 1 non-executive Director nominated by DACS, 1 executive Director (Chief Executive Office) and 1 non-executive independent Chairman. The Chairman has primary responsibility for running the Board. The Chief Executive has executive responsibilities for the operations and results of the CLA and for making proposals to the Board for the strategic development of the CLA.
The board directors are:
- Tom Bradley, Independent Chairman
- Kevin Fitzgerald, Chief Executive
- Tony Bradman
- Alan Dearling
- James Evans
- Toby Faber
- Danny Gesua
- Penny Grubb
- Dave Jago
- Dominic Knight
- Audrey McCulloch
- Mark Millar
- David Nott
- Andrew Potter
- Ian Russell
- Graham Taylor
The observers are:
- Owen Atkinson
- Gilane Tawadros
- Sarah Faulder
The Company Secretary is:
- Martin Delaney
Compliance
CLA established its compliance arm, Copywatch in 1996[6]. Copywatch was established in 1996 by The Copyright Licensing Agency to counter illegal copying of books, magazines and journals in the business and local authority areas. The company is also a member of the Alliance Against IP Theft and the Trading Standards Institute.
http://www.ipo.gov.uk/types/copy/c-manage/c-ownerorg/c-ownerorg-print.htm
What can I do with this content?
At Frankfurt Book Fair in October 2011, CLA launched a new industry-standard digital copyright icon which displays publishers' key terms of use on their websites. Entitled, 'What can I do with this content?', the tool aims to benefit publishers by communicating their copyright policy; providing an industry-standard format for displaying copyright terms on the internet and generating revenue for those publishers signed up to the UK collective licensing scheme[7].
- ^ http://www.infogov.salford.ac.uk/copyright/clalicence.php
- ^ http://www.cla.co.uk/about/governance/cla_history
- ^ http://www.cla.co.uk/protect_creativity/
- ^ 'An economic analysis of copyright, secondary copyright and collective licensing'. PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, 2011.
- ^ Campbell, Lisa "Changing copyright laws could "stifle" literature, report finds" The Bookseller, 11.03.2011
- ^ Copywatch
- ^ 'Why Protecting Your Content is Key to Your Digital Future' Publishing Perspectives, Frankfurt Show Daily (Wednesday 12th October)http://publishingperspectives.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Frankfurt-Show-Daily-Wed-12-Oct-2011.pdf
External links
Categories:- Publishing
- Copyright law
- Copyright licences
- Voluntary collective licensing
- Collective rights management
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