ClipShare: A vital resource for publishers and journalists

NLA media access is best known for licensing newspaper and magazine content to thousands of communications and PR professionals and supplying published content to media monitoring agencies through the eClips database service.   But the investment that national newspaper publishers have made in eClips also enables us to offer a range of data driven services to publishers themselves, including a cutting edge resource called ClipShare.

With over 40 million print articles from over 130 publications dating back to 2006,  ClipShare offers journalists at subscribing publishers access to news pieces in-page (viewable as they would appear on a printed newspaper spread).  The database is accessed by thousands of journalists researching stories every week and is a vital tool for publishers in keeping an organised, easily accessible record of the content they produce every year. 

ClipShare is having a major upgrade in 2014:

• In the spring, a new search engine will reduce search times, ensuring sub-second results even for complex queries
• In the autumn, the archive will include web as well as print-edition content
• The print archive will expand further, with several magazine titles joining the database during the course of 2014
• And finally, we are planning to extend the database ‘back in time’, by loading a text archive of national newspapers from 2001 to 2006

All of this adds up to a marvellous resource for the busy journalist working to a deadline.

News UK, Trinity Mirror, Associated Newspapers, Northern & Shell, Telegraph, Independent, Guardian, Johnston Press, Newsquest and FT journalists currently have access to ClipShare, but other publishers are expected to join before the year is out.

If you are a publisher or journalist and would like to know more about how to subscribe please contact our Publisher services Executive, Jenny Crewe jcrewe@nla.co.uk  for more information.

Copyright licensing for schools

Over the past year representatives of the creative industries have worked together to implement recommendations from Richard Hooper’s report on streamlining copyright licensing for schools.

As a result of work by the Copyright Licensing Steering Group and a separate review of the education sector, NLA media access (acting on behalf of newspaper publishers) made two important decisions:

1. To start charging a fee for the NLA Schools Licence
2. To appoint the Copyright Licensing Agency (CLA) as our agent for newspaper licensing

Currently schools pay for copying rights for media such as books, magazines, music and film. NLA media access is now making its policy consistent with market practice. The new NLA Schools Licence provides comprehensive cover for newspapers based on a standard set of terms to match the CLA licence.

By appointing CLA as exclusive agent NLA is simplifying the licensing process for schools, offering a single point of contact and centralised administration.

Other changes such as a survey based on existing CLA data collection processes, plus a single licence renewal date of 1^st April, will simplify copyright administration even further.

Why should my school have a newspaper licence?

Whenever a teacher, staff member or student makes a copy of a newspaper or newspaper website they are required to contact the publisher and seek permission. The NLA Schools Licence covers the school for any copying for teaching purposes and provides the necessary permission from multiple publishers in one simple transaction. There are over 1500 national and regional newspapers and 1000 newspaper websites covered, in addition to selected foreign titles.

What will it cost?

For Independent schools and those in Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland, the fees will be £50 for schools with fewer than 750 FTE students and £75 for more than 751 FTE students.

Through CLA administered arrangements with the Department for Education, all state-maintained schools in England will be covered under a blanket CLA licence until 2015.

Helping publishers monitor and control copyright infringement

During most weeks over 1700 web domains infringe copyright content of just four national newspaper publishers. In one recent week one domain alone (www.libreprensa.com) infringed 813 articles. The next highest infringement of one publisher’s material by a domain during that same week was 684 articles.

NLA is now running an infringement tracking system to identify and contact infringers. The service identifies where content taken from newspaper websites has been copied elsewhere in the public domain, removing licensed sites from the analysis. An initial thirteen week trial  with four national newspapers (Independent, Telegraph, Guardian and Mirror) ran in q4 2013 to.

•        analyse the level of infringement against publisher rules
•        compile domain ownership data and contact details where possible
•        advise users of the potential issues
•        after confirmation with publishers, take appropriate action and;
•        follow up referrals to publisher legal teams where required

In the trial a large number of domains removed infringing content, or complied with publisher rules (such as linking appropriately) and also referrals to publishers for licences or the NLA web republishing licence.  The service is now live and NLA looks forward to developing it, and building closer links with other publisher initiatives in this area. 

There are no simple solutions to copyright abuse, but NLA media access will continue to work with publishers to educate users on appropriate use, and – where necessary – take action on infringement.

For further information please contact Jenny Crewe jcrewe@nla.co.uk  

NLA helps magazine publishers reclaim their royalties with dedicated microsite and content masterclass

NLA media access, one of the UK’s media licensing agencies, is launching an awareness campaign to help UK magazine publishers claim historic and future royalties for use of their content.

The microsite will host a series of blog posts published as part of a ‘Content Masterclass’ over the first quarter of 2014, on topics from copyright and copying to royalties and rights management.

Drawing on expertise from veteran journalists and publishers including Elisabeth Ribbans and Brian MacArthur, the masterclass aims to:

•         demystify the legal frameworks around copying;
•         explain how to safeguard content; and
•         clarify publishers’ and authors’ rights.

The NLA, which began life managing content licensing and data feeds for newspapers, paid out around £25m in royalties to newspapers in 2013. Last year, it was asked by the Professional Publishers Association (PPA) to take on responsibility for royalty collection for magazine publishers. Following the PPA’s recommendation of the NLA to its members, over 150 publishers – over 40% of the market by value – have signed up with the NLA over the past nine months.

However, there are still hundreds of smaller magazine publishers who are not signed up to receive royalties from companies copying their content.

David Pugh, Managing Director of NLA media access, comments,

“Many smaller publishers are focusing on creating great content for their readers, and are often not even aware that they could be generating an additional revenue stream from royalties. Every time a publisher’s content is used, republished on the internet, or supplied as a PDF clip to a PR company they are owed publishing royalties. 

“It's difficult for smaller independent publishers to collect this money on their own. That is why organisations like NLA media access and the Publishers Licensing Society exist to help complete the process quickly and efficiently.”

To help magazine publishers understand how royalty collection and payments work, the NLA have set up a dedicated microsite at nla.co.uk/royalties, where a brief video shows how royalties are generated, FAQs should answer common queries, and there’s a contact form direct to the royalties team.

To learn more, get in touch with the NLA, or to sign up for the masterclass posts, visit nla.co.uk/royalties.

Key facts about signing up with the NLA

•        Content is licensed for re-use to over 200,000 UK organisations, maximising royalties
•        Content is registered with the Publishers Licensing Society (PLS), and publishers are set up to claim historic
         and future royalties
•        Publishers can work with the NLA to identify new licensing opportunities.

About NLA media access

Originally called the Newspaper Licensing Agency, NLA media access was set up by eight national newspaper companies to protect the industry's copyright through collective licensing.  It now represents the rights of over 200 publishers.

NLA media access gives permission for organisations to copy from an extensive range of newspapers, magazines and websites and provides database services to both media monitoring agencies and publishers. In 2013 more than 200,000 organisations relied upon NLA media access annual licences.

Eighty per cent of the company’s revenues are returned to the publishers to be invested back into the industry. In 2012 NLA media access revenues equated to the salaries of 1100 journalists.

Contact: Andrew May andrew.may@theopen-road.com / 0203 542 1119

Technology to help picture agencies - Photochecker

NLA media access believes technology should help copyright owners. We invest in technology to make content easier to use, to create transparency, and to make it easier for content owners to get paid properly. One example of this is that we are now providing photo libraries with a service that helps them track where their pictures have been published. Photochecker provides online access to a library of major UK titles, including time and geographic editions, and an archive. The aim is to reduce the time spent reconciling supply, use and payment. Early adopters have included Getty and PA, but smaller agencies are also benefitting from the service.

Martin Stephens, Managing Director of Press Association Images, commented that “monitoring use of images in both printed newspapers and particularly on their fast-changing websites is a challenging task. Having access to a database with all editions of printed titles and every image that appears online is a very useful tool.”

The development of Photochecker reflects newspaper interest in working with agencies to ensure transparency on where and how content is used. NLA media access is happy to help the two groups to work together.

For further information, please contact Rita Miscioscia RMiscioscia@nla.co.uk