Copyright and Intellectual Property

    The Copyright Licensing Agency HE License
 

The Copyright Licensing Agency (CLA) Higher Education blanket licence permits multiple copies of certain types of copyright works to be made for all students on a particular module and for the tutor, but the limitations detailed below will apply.

Your copies must fall within the limits of whichever is the greater, 10% or:

• one chapter of a book
• one article of a journal issue
• one paper of one set of conference proceedings
• one report of a single case from a report of judicial proceedings
• one short story or one poem of not more than 10 pages in an anthology of short stories or poems.

Copies can be made from London Met Library's print or electronic collections and can be photocopied or distributed electronically via WebLearn.

All digital copying must be reported annually to the CLA, therefore all digitisation requests must be processed by the Library Digitisation Service. The Library Digitisation Service will check your course materials for compliance with CLA HE Licence terms, scan course material for you and advise you of your options where this is not possible.

Digitised course readings from published works for delivery to students via WebLearn. This is a staff-focused service to support the provision of copyright-compliant teaching material. 

The Digitisation Service provided by the Library offers a free service for academic staff providing: 

• High-quality digital copies in text-searchable PDF format for accessibility
• Compliance with copyright and CLA HE Licence terms
• Online access via user-friendly links
• Usage statistics to inform your teaching
• Digital scans will link directly to your reading list or you can use the permanent url we provide in WebLearn
• Where a subscription exists to an e-version of the work, please link to the Library catalogue using a permalink

Search ERA Radio and TV Services

Our ERA Licence permits you to use recorded broadcast media for teaching and learning, including in online platforms like WebLearn. Sources of broadcast material include on demand services like BBC iPlayer, ITV player, Channel 4oD, 5 Television and On Demand 5, National Geographic and the Discovery Channel. When using these, ensure it's for educational, non-commercial purposes within the UK, and always acknowledge sources under the ERA Licensing scheme.

The University holds an Educational Recording Licence (ERA) to support educators to make the most of television and radio programmes broadcast in the UK.

✅ What You Can Do Under the ERA Licence

• Record free-to-air TV and radio broadcasts for non-commercial educational use.
• Recordings can be made by departments or individual staff members.
• Lend recordings to staff and students.
• Embed recordings in PowerPoint presentations.
• Upload recordings to WebLearn, as long as access is restricted to registered users.
• Access and record from on-demand services like BBC iPlayer, ITV Hub, All4, and My5.

⚠️ Conditions to Follow

• Use must be strictly non-commercial and educational.
• Recordings must not be edited or modified, though extracts are allowed.
• Each recording must be clearly marked with:
  • Title of the recording
  • Name of the broadcaster
  • Date of the broadcast
  • The following notice:
    "This recording is to be used only for non-commercial educational purposes under the terms of an ERA licence"

❌ What’s Not Allowed

• Cable and satellite broadcasts are not covered by the ERA licence.
• Supplying recordings to overseas students (outside the UK), whether digitally or physically, is not permitted.

Creative Commons (CC) is a nonprofit organisation that helps creators share their work legally and openly. It provides a set of free licences that allow others to use, share, and build upon creative works—while still respecting the creator’s rights.

Unlike traditional copyright (which reserves all rights), Creative Commons licences allow creators to retain some rights and waive others, making it easier for others to reuse their work legally.

Why Is It Useful?

• Creators stay in control of how their work is used.
• Users can easily understand what they’re allowed to do with a work.
• Licences are transparent, helping you decide if a resource fits your purpose.
• Encourages sharing and collaboration—ideal for education, research, and creative projects.

There are six Creative Commons Licenses. The following graphic explains what each license allows you to do as chosen by the copyright owner. This graphic belongs to CreativeCommons.org and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.

For more information about how Creative Commons Licenses work, visit this link.

Separate to Creative Commons licences, but similiar, Official government and public sector publications may be reproduced and adapted under the Open Government Licence.

Under the licence you may:

• copy, publish and distribute the material
• adapt the material
• use the material for commercial purposes.

You must acknowledge the source and where possible provide a link to the licence.

When using public-sector information, it is your responsibility to check the terms of the licence (PDF) and whether there are any exemptions.

All electronic resources, including databases, e-journals and e-books are made available through subscriptions handled by the Library. Access to these resources is allowed under the terms of the licences drawn up by the supplier, all staff and students at London Met are responsible for ensuring that they comply with these licences.

General rules:

• You must not share any material with unauthorised users (ie non-members of London Met).
• All use must be for non-commercial purposes ie private study, teaching or research.
• You must not modify the text of any copyright material.

Not all database providers permit access by students and staff at London Met partner institutions. The database descriptions on each database page will tell you whether the database provider authorises you to access that particular database.