Over the last few months, we've been talking about copyright licensing and the PMCA...

As a bit of a recap - here are some of the key points:

  • You need a copyright licence if you copy, store or distribute publisher's content within your organisation - including if you're posting to your website or social media
  • Your organisation needs permission if something like a screenshot of the latest media clips are going to be included in a document which is stored or distributed to others
  • If you have media monitoring, you need to know your legal obligations re the copyright content you access
  • A PMCA licence will cover you for any copyright material which is copied

By now you might have a few questions...

  • How do I know if I need a licence?
  • How is a licence put together?
  • What does it cover?
  • How much will it cost?

Simply get in touch with the PMCA. They will be able to help you work out if a copyright licence is right for your organisation.

Your copyright cover starts with a Basic Licence. This is the initial part of the licence which lets you print or photocopy. It's based on the number of employees in your organisation. The licence covers everyone, so you don't need to monitor staff's actual copying and/or distribution of content.

A basic licence is the prerequisite to having a digital copying licence. This is needed if you use content electronically - copy from a website, store PDFs or copy clips and use them in a new document.

You will need to include the publications the team copies from or which are mentioned in the feed from the monitoring agency that was in your email this morning.

Do your clippings go to anyone outside your organisation? If so you'll need to include those folks as external recipients. Including the content on your website? You'll need a website extension.

The last part of organising a licence is ensuring you're covered for copying you have already done. If you copied or distributed content previously without a licence then it's important that this is acknowledged on your licence as well.

This may seem like a bit of a process to work through, but it doesn't need to be; you can apply for a copyright licence and find out all you need to know on the PMCA website.

If you have any queries about PMCA copyright licensing feel free to contact the PMCA.