How does copyright affect your use of books and resources?
The notion of copyright can be a bit daunting, and it’s sometimes tricky to understand how it relates to the classroom and learning resources.
Most teachers will regularly use copyrighted materials as part of their daily teaching routine but aren’t necessarily aware of how copyright law affects them or if they need permission to use published works, and they rarely have time to research this thoroughly.
Do you know your copy-rights?
The permission to copy from books and magazines is ALREADY granted through the Copyright Licensing Agency (CLA) Education Licence AND all state-maintained schools in the UK already hold a CLA Education Licence! For years, UK schools have benefited from the permissions offered by CLA’s licence to copy, but did you know that you’re covered, and do you know how much you can do under the licence? No, we didn’t think so.
That’s why, earlier this year, the Copyright Licensing Agency launched its “Licence to Copy” campaign – to boost teachers’ understanding of copyright and highlight how they can use the CLA Education Licence to their advantage. We want to make sure that teachers across the country are making the most of a resource tool already at their disposal.
What can I copy?
So, what can you do with your Licence to Copy?
- Photocopy, scan, print out or digitally copy up to 5% or one chapter from the vast majority of digital and print books that your school owns (just check with our Check Permissions tool)
- Share copies with students and staff for use in the classroom and private study
- Use copies with digital whiteboards, VLEs and presentation software programs
This campaign is supported by education publishers and authors, whose creative content the licence helps to protect. Start looking out for the ‘Licence to Copy’ badge on publications, which will remind you that you can copy extracts from textbooks your school owns, all safe in the knowledge that you are copyright compliant.
You can keep up to date with the campaign by signing up to our newsletters and by following our Schools Blog where we’ll be hearing from teachers like Graham Elsdon, who as an author, shares his views on intellectual property. If you want to share your own tips, ideas and thoughts on using resources in the classroom, let us know!
In the meantime, you can get all the information you need from the dedicated campaign page, which gives you all the support you need to understand your licence to copy. You can even watch and share our Licence to Copy video:
By supporting the Licence to Copy campaign, you are not just helping you and your students; you’re also helping to acknowledge the vital role of creators in the UK education sector, and the ongoing creation of high-quality content.
You can find out more about the Licence to Copy campaign here and stay up to date with the campaign by signing up to our Schools Newsletter and following our Schools Blog.
This is a sponsored blogpost.
