The Copyright Licensing Agency (CLA) is a UK

non-profit organisation A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

established in 1983 to perform collective licensing on behalf of its members the

Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society The Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS) is a British organisation that works to ensure that writers are fairly compensated for any of their works that are copied, broadcast or recorded. It has operated in the United Kingdom since 197 ...

(ALCS),

Publishers' Licensing Services Publishers' Licensing Services (PLS), formerly The Publishers Licensing Society, is a not-for-profit organisation that represents many book, magazine and journal publishers based in the United Kingdom. PLS works to ensure that publishers are fairl ...

(PLS), the Design and Artists Collecting Society (DACS) and PICSEL. The Copyright Licensing Agency is based in 5th Floor, Shackleton House, 4 Battle Bridge Lane, London, SE1 2HX.

Aim

The Copyright Licensing Agency (CLA) i
recognised by the UK government
as the collective rights licensing body for text and images from book, journal and magazine content. CLA exists to simplify copyright for content users and copyright owners. Its aim is to help its customers legally access, copy or share the published content that they want, while making sure copyright owners are paid for the use of their work. As an aggregator of publisher, author and visual artist rights from 35 countries, CLA is a leading provider of licences and products to the education, corporate and public sector. 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 2019/2020 CLA distributed collected £86m in fees and distributed £76.8m to its members for payment to authors, visual artists and publishers. As well as UK publications, CLA have agreements with

reproduction rights organisation Reproduction (or procreation or breeding) is the biological process by which new individual organisms – "offspring" – are produced from their "parent" or parents. Reproduction is a fundamental feature of all known life; each individual org ...

s (RROs) that allow employees to copy works published in over 35 other countries. CLA also work with the

International Federation of Reproduction Rights Organisations International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

(IFRRO) towards the development of international codes of conduct.

Copyright Law

CLA is a licensing body as defined by the

Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988c 48, also known as the CDPA, is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that received Royal Assent on 15 November 1988. It reformulates almost completely the statutory basis of copyright law ...

Compliance

CLA established its compliance arm, Copywatch in 1996. 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 The Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) is a professional association which represents and trains trading standards professionals working in local authorities, business and consumer sectors and in central government in the UK and overseas ...

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Copyright Licensing Agency Copyright collection societies Media and communications in the London Borough of Southwark Organisations based in the London Borough of Southwark Organizations established in 1983