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EditBilateral Agreements
An agreement is a legal necessity to ensure that rightsholders’ works are appropriately copied and remunerated throughout the world. The overseas organisations listed
below have reciprocal agreements with the CLA. They hand over to the CLA, money they collect for UK publications that are photocopied abroad, and CLA passes to them money for foreign works that are copied in UK.
EditWhat's Agreed in a Bilateral Agreement
What the parties allow each other to do (“Authorisations”)using annexes for detailed information.
The agreement allows the RROs to license and/or administer remuneration regarding:
• rightsholders’ material
• for uses
• by users
• in a territory
Each of these items will be defined for the purposes of each RRO. Common definitions might be arrived at but it is likely that each RRO needs its own section. The agreement to allow the other RRO to license might extend to one or to several countries. The agreement to allow the other RRO to license might, where appropriate, also deal with licensing users whose reach extends across borders (e.g. subsidiaries of multinational corporations established in one of these countries, distance learning institutions or libraries sending material to students or other users abroad)
Pricing/ tariffs
Agree on the tariff / pricing structure and any choices or instructions to be made.
Mechanisms to administer the agreement:
• Payment of licence fees: when, how and how often to be transferred to the other RRO
• Deductions from these payments
• Which information needs to be transmitted, how, in which format and how often
¤ On payments and deductions
¤ On usage of the repertoire
¤ On the repertoire
¤ On the licences
¤ On the RRO as an organisation
• And any changes to any of these items
Details of any annex/online access/databases or any other tool that may be useful
General Clauses
• Confidentiality
• Audits
• Diligence and care
• Enforcement
• Compliance and copyright education activities
• Non-exclusive nature of the agreement
• Opt-out procedures and arrangements (where applicable)
• No sub-contracting
• Warranties and indemnities
• Applicable law
• Applicable forum and/or alternative dispute resolution
• Term and termination
• Severability
• Notices
• How the Code of Conduct and the REM Key Principles are dealt with.
EditBenefits of Bilateral Agreements:
To Users:
• added value - the value of the licence is protected or increased by the addition of foreign repertoire
• comprehensiveness - most obviously in the context of US works, but also for works in other languages.
• This is particularly important to overseas users, to whom the UK repertoire is extremely valuable.
• user friendliness - a licence which permits the copying of foreign works is that much easier to work with. This leads to a higher level of compliance (because it’s easier) and increases respect for copyright.
To Rightsholders:
• your works are copied under terms and conditions that are appropriate and acceptable
• the licence enables the licensing body to enforce strictly the agreed terms and conditions
• the licensing body can collect fees for the copying, which are paid to CLA and distributed to the rights holders.
EditTypes of Bilateral Agreement
CLA’s bilaterals are of two kinds:
1) Licensing agreement:
CLA grants rights to the foreign RRO to licence UK works, gives an indemnity and repatriates fees for copying of UK repertoire.
This applies to voluntary regimes: e.g. CCC (USA)
2) Collecting agreement:
RRO doesn't need CLA´s authority to collect fees domestically: CLA just repatriates fees.
This applies to legal licence regimes: e.g. VG WORT (Germany)
For descriptions of the various regimes, see the
Copying Abroad page.
EditRRO's with Bilateral Agreements with CLA
Most of the following RRO's also have bilateral agreements with their equivalents in many other countries. Most of them, like the CLA, are members of IFRRO, the
International Federation of Reproduction Rights Organisations. The information about them is taken from IFRRO's members database on their
website, where you can also find more information about each one. See the
RRO's page for a list of overseas organisations with no bilateral agreement.
• Argentina:
CADRA
Is ruled by civil law and international agreements: Berne Convention, Universal Convention and TRIPS. Reproduction without authorization of authors and publishers is prohibited. Private copies are not included. The adhesion to collective management is established on a voluntary basis without any form of back-up in Copyright Laws.
Reprographic Licences for any written intellectual work whether they are single publication as books; in periodicals as newspapers or in any printed or digital support.
Types of institutions/sectors licensed: 167 copyshops; 2 librairies (Supreme Court and Congress Library); 11 universities
• Australia:
CAL
Non voluntary licence scheme - legal reprographic licences under Common Law, and voluntary licensing for corporations, and government press clippers, associations, local government and worship use, by direct grant of mandate by rightsholders, for literary, artistic and dramatic works, including extracts from books, journals and newspaper articles, and including digital works.
CAL also runs CAW: Classic Australian Works: A print on demand service for out of print and culturally significant Australian works which was initially launched in 2003 with 25 titles. CAW is being enhanced - with new editions of the works being produced which will include scholarly introductions by literary experts, as well as expanding the repertoire of works available. The works are also available for digital supply, in addition to the print on demand model.
• Austria:
Literar-Mechana According to Austrian law, licensing works by imposing a fee on reproduction equipment including a blank tape levy.
Types of institutions/sectors licensed: 62 producers/importers of copymachines, faxmachines and scanner, 50 importers of printer, 298 copyshops, 18 universities, for all categories of literary and scientific works for reproduction including course packs and document delivery.
Electronic storage is permitted by law only for private use without any direct or indirect commercial purpose.
• Belgium:
REPROBEL
Legal licence operating under civil law, by imposing an equipment levy and operator's fee for written works: Journalistic, literary, scientific or educational texts, photographs, other texts, musical scores, photos and other visual and plastic works
Types of institutions/sectors licensed: Educational institutions, Authorities (Belgian, European, international, etc.), Institutions for public lending and Private sector.
Since May 2005, a legal license authorizes both the electronic storage and the public communication carried out by means of a closed transmission network for the purposes of illustrating the teaching or of scientific research (academic permission). In the near future, electronic storage will also be permitted by law for private use only thus not for one’s own internal professional use. The latter provision awaits a Royal decree to come into force.
• Canada:
Access Copyright Access Copyright represents the reproduction
rights interests of more than 8000 Canadian creators
and publishers, as well as those of copyright owners
around the globe. It was established in 1988 to license public access to copyright protected works. It gives users immediate, legal and economical access to excerpts from published works while ensuring that copyright owners are fairly compensated for that use.
• Canada (Quebec):
Copibec
Types of works licensed: books, periodicals, newspapers and non published plays.
Types of uses licensed (including, where applicable, course packs, document delivery) : Reprography including press clipping, course packs and document delivery
Types of institutions/sectors licensed: Schools, colleges, universities, federal and provincial governments, private companies.
In Quebec, licensing operates under both Civil Law and Common Law.
The legal system is one of voluntary licensing schemes, without any form of back-up in Copyright Laws
• Denmark:
COPYDAN
The system is an extended collective licence system based on the existence of collective organisations representing the rightsholders. On behalf of their members the collective organisations enter into agreements with users of copyright protected works within certain areas.
Types of works licensed: All types of published material except audio visual works and pictorial art which does not appear in a textual context.
Institutions licensed include schools, colleges, universities, other institutions of higher education, the public administration and governmental departments, municipalities, private enterprises, public and private organisations etc.
Digital Licences are issued for educational purposes including scanning of works in closed networks, such as the intranet. Scanned documents must be stored in a format which prevents manipulation. Access to the databases must be limited by use of password
• Finland:
KOPIOSTO
Extended collective licence scheme under civil law, gaining revenue from blank tape levies, for all types of protected printed publications and retransmission of broadcasts and recording of domestic radio and television programmes. Distribution of money is non-title specific.
Licensed for: education, course packs in colleges and universities, internal communication by schools and universities, church administration, state administration, municipal administration, business enterprises, associations, fee based education, religious communities, vocational adult education centers, study centers.
Digital Licences: Kopiosto is a project partner in Elektra for document delivery from a database. Elektra was originally a library pilot project for testing the network delivery of Finnish scientific articles via controlled copyright system. Today the database contains 10,000 articles from 48 scientific publications with over 5,000 authors. A statistical survey of digital copying was completed. It was an internet questionnaire study to teachers asking for their needs in using different media, audiovisual material, books and newspapers. The objective was to specify new business ideas on the educational sector. The development of digital licenses is in process.
• France:
CFC
CFC is a authors and publishers owned organisation created in 1984 to licence books and press publications'reproduction rights. CFC is approved by the Ministry of Culture.
CFC licences reprographic reproduction rights under a compulsory collective management system since ths 3rd January 1995 Act.
Besides, CFC licences digital reproduction rights on the basis of a voluntary collective management.
• Germany:
VG WORT
Legal licences: non voluntary and voluntary licences under civil law of Scientific and literary works for private and personal use, educational and research use, document delivery, press digests by educational institutions, research institutions, public libraries, copy-shops (operator levy); companies and organisations (press digests); libraries (document delivery). Also public lending right, private copying, video rental, various secondary broadcasting rights
Digital licensing of scientific and literary works for
a) retrodigitization by libraries (distribution of scientific articles to closed user circle)
b) off-line digitisation and use of older material
c) on-line digitisation and use of older material
d) LAN (intranet) digitisation and use of material not published in digital form.
e) electronic press digests (in conjunction with Presse Monitor Germany (PMG)
Distribution of revenue is title-specific distribution and non title-specific distribution, Full reporting, Sampling, Statistical surveys, Objective availability, possiblity to be copied - methods vary from sector to sector.
• Greece:
OSDEL
The Greek Copyright Law enacted in year 1993 provided for the first time a levy on photocopying machines to be collected by a collection society. On the initiative of writers’ and publishers’ unions, OSDEL was formed in year 1997. OSDEL has the legal status of a non-profit cooperation.
Civil law, statutory licence for private use and equipment levy. Voluntary collective license for all other uses not covered under private use.
• Hong Kong:
HKRRS
Under common law, a voluntary licensing scheme, without any form of back-up in Copyright law. Licensing literary, dramatic, artistic and musical works to educational establishments, government departments, public bodies, corporate bodies, associations, copy shops and libraries. No digital licensing.
• Iceland:
Fjölís
Fjölís grants extended collective reprographic licences for all categories of printed works, including sheet music to schools, universities and all other educational facilities supported by the state on a regular basis; music schools; private schools; central government administration, local government administration, choirs, and the state church of Iceland.
• Ireland:
ICLA
Authority is received from authors through the Irish Writers’ Union and the Irish Screenwriters & Playwrights Guild and through individual mandates since 2002 by individual mandate from publishers. Over 170 book and periodical publishers have signed mandates which represents the majority of publishers in Ireland.
Licensing for the educational sector has statutory support under the Copyright and Related Rights Act 2000 in civil law. The licensing schemes are voluntary without any form of back-up in copyright laws. Literary works, STM and Journals are licensed to the educational Sector: Primary, Secondary and Tertiary; Business users and Copyshops for print reproduction and digital course packs and virtual learning environments for higher education, closed access intranet for business users.
• Italy:
AIDRO
Types of works licensed: Books, journals and magazines. Types of uses licensed (including, where applicable, course packs, document delivery). Types of institutions/sectors licensed: Schools and universities, consulting firms. Voluntary Licensing schemes, without any form of back-up in Copyright Laws.
• Italy:
SIAE
SIAE was founded in 1882. SIAE, the Italian Society of Authors and Publishers, is a multipurpose collecting society that acts for the protection and the collective administration of musical works, dramatic and dramatico-musical works, cinematographic works, audiovisual works, literary works and works of visual arts. It is the public organization to which the Italian law confers the exclusive activity of intermediation in the management of author’s right for various categories of works, upon mandate of authors and publishers. SIAE is entitled by law to collect and distribute fees for private copy, reprography,resale right and public lending right. SIAE also offers to authors and publishers a number of services connected to copyright.
SIAE is divided in 5 Sections: Music, Cinema, DOR(dramatic works), Lirica (opera)and OLAF (literary works - visual arts). The head office is in Rome while a wide net of regional offices, local branches and hundreds of agencies are spread all over Italy.
• Jamaica:
Voluntary Licensing schemes under common law, with potential back-up in Copyright Laws.
Licensing literary, artistic and dramatic works published in printed form, such as books, magazines and periodicals for reprographic uses including course packs, by government and education sectors. Education sector is also licensed for digital conversion, reproduction in print and in digital form, distribution of paper copies and of digitised works on secure network, storage.
• Japan:
JAACC
JAACC was established in 1989 by four leading academic associations of the scientific and engineering academia in Japan: The Japan Federation of Engineering Societies, Association of Japanese Agricultural Scientific Societies, Japanese Association for Dental Science and The Pharmaceutical Society of Japan.
Then JAACC was requested to join the foundation of reprographic rights center of Japan together with rightholders of academia, industries and arts. In 1990, JAACC, Copyright Council for Publishers and Federation of Authors Organizations, jointly founded Japan Reprographic Rights Center (JRRC).
In 1992 JAACC and Copyright Clearance Center of the United States (CCC) began talks on collaboration for collecting royalties and distributions, which finally led to the bilateral agreement in 1999.
• Luxembourg:
Luxorr
Voluntary collective licensing under civil law, and public lending right by legal collective mandating. Reprographic Licences for written and pictorial works in book, press and internet publications licensed for internal reproduction by private and public users.
Digital licences are granted for written and pictorial works in press publications for use on an intranet with temporary storage by private and public users.
• Mexico:
CeMPro
Under Federal Copyright Law 1996, voluntary Licensing schemes, without any form of back-up in Copyright Laws, on behalf of authors and publishers, licensing books and magazines to universities, librairies and copyshops.
• Netherlands:
Stichting Reprorecht
Dutch Copyright Law permits the making of photocopies for private use, providing this is limited to small sections of books, or short articles from daily newspapers or magazines. Photocopies made for private use may only be used by the person copying them and may not be issued to others.
Educational institutions, libraries, government agencies and other institutions working in the public interest may issue photocopies for internal use to students, mutual lending between libraries and to civil servants respectively – providing fair compensation is paid to SR for these copies. The reproduction right fee, set in 1974 and still effective today, is € 0.045 per copy. Only non-scientific educational institutions pay € 0.011 per copy per page.
The Act of 28 March 2002 for the amendment of the Dutch Copyright Act of 1912 with regards to reprographic reproduction was published in Dutch State Book 186. After a legislation process lasting years, the effect of reproduction rights has now been extended to the Dutch business sector. This new law was implemented in February 2003.
Legal system: Legal Licence under civil law.
Professional and scientific journals and books are licensed, and educational texts, sheet music, newspapers, literary works and general books, magazines and visual works, allowing photocopying, but not including course packs and document delivery, by the public sector and the business sector.
• Netherlands: STM / IPRO
• New Zealand:
CLL, Copyright Licensing Limited
Voluntary licensing schemes, without any form of back-up in Copyright Laws, under a Common Law system
Types of works licensed: Books, journals, periodicals
Types of uses licensed: Educational, course packs, document delivery, professional services, normal business purposes
Types of institutions/sectors licensed: Educational institutions-primary and secondary schools, universities, colleges of education, polytechnics, private training establishments, Government Departments, corporations,law firms
• Norway:
Kopinor
Types of works licensed: All types of published material.
Types of uses licensed: Internal and educational uses, including course packs in colleges and universities.
Types of institutions/sectors licensed: Schools (790000 students and 92000 teachers in 4000 schools), universities and colleges (210000 students and 27000 employees in 60 universities and colleges), national and local government administration, political parties, trade unions and other organisations, churches, private and public enterprises, etc.
Kopinor’s Rights Clearance Service clears rights for reproduction that fall outside the scope of the reprographic licenses. Kopinor also collects and distributes fees for use of works in public exams (legal license).
• Singapore:
CLASSTypes of works licensed: All types of published material.
Types of uses licensed: Internal and educational uses, including course packs in colleges and universities.
Types of institutions/sectors licensed: Schools (790000 students and 92000 teachers in 4000 schools), universities and colleges (210000 students and 27000 employees in 60 universities and colleges), national and local government administration, political parties, trade unions and other organisations, churches, private and public enterprises, etc.
• Spain:
Cedro Licenses all categories of printed works, except newspapers, under a Civil Law system.
Types of uses licensed: General and transactional licences.
Types of institutions/sectors licensed: (As of 11th May 2007):
458 copyshops, 54 Universities, 46 libraries, 47 companies, 109 educational centres, 47 others
• South Africa:
DALRO DALRO is not a membership-based organisation, but represents rights' owners on an agency basis.
Types of works licensed: Books and serial publications in copyright.
Types of uses licensed: Mainly dissemination in the form of course packs.
Types of institutions/sectors licensed: Primarly Higher Education Institutions
• Sweden:
Bonus Presskopia
During the 60s it became apparent that individual teachers’ need for copying from books, newspapers and periodicals and other literary and artistic works could not be satisfied within the framework of the Swedish Copyright Act and that illegal copying was prevalent. All parties – publishers, authors and the Government (representing the educational system) – found that they had a common interest in settling the issue by agreement.
BONUS (Pictures, Words, Printed Music – Joint Copyright Organisation) was formed in 1973 when the first collective agreement was reached by the Government and the rights holders.
Presskopia was formed in 1982 by the organisations in the newspaper and the periodical sectors. In 1996 the organisations in the pictorial sector joined. The main task was to license the right to reproduction of articles in newspapers and periodicals for internal use within companies, organisations and authorities.
From 1 January 1999 BONUS and Presskopia are one organisation with the name
Bonus Presskopia.
• Switzerland:
ProLitteris
Types of uses licensed: Photocopying of excerpts of works for internal information and documentation
Types of institutions/sectors licensed: Commercial and industrial companies, government, schools, universities, libraries, copyshops. All types of works are also licensed for digital reproduction of excerpts of works for internal information and documentation. ProLitteris also licenses reproduction rights in visual art and broadcasting rights in literary works.
• Taiwan:
COLCIA COLCIA filed an application for establishment with the government in 2002, due to the lack of knowledge of RRO operation of their government, it took 5 years of persistent striving with the government, the RRO was finally approved to establish COLCIA on August 8, 2006.
After the official establishment of COLCIA, as a member of international copyright protector, they joined IFRRO as RRO member in June 2007. Types of works licensed: Literary, dramatic, artic works and so on
Types of uses licensed (including, where applicable, course packs, document delivery) : educational establishments, government departments, public bodies, copyshops, libraries and corporate bodies.
• Trinidad and Tobago:
TTRRO The Trinidad and Tobago Reprographic Rights Organisation (TTRRO) was incorporated as a non-profit organisation on May 12, 2003. The members of TTRRO include publishers, authors, photographers, cartographers and composers (sheet music only).
Since its incorporation, the TTRRO has been engaged in the following activities:
• The drafting of a National Intellectual Property Policy through the participation of a TTRRO representative on the Cabinet-appointed Intellectual Property Policy Committee;
• Membership drives to encourage other stakeholders, such as songwriters, journalists, composers, visual artists and translators, to become members of the TTRRO; and
• Of particular interest to the members of the TTRRO are the granting of licences to users in respect of photographic works, literary works and cartographic works.
Endorsements have been received by the TTRRO from the Ministry of Legal Affairs, Book Industry Association of Trinidad and Tobago and the Faculty of Science and Agriculture, and the Main Library of the University of the West Indies. Indeed, the Ministry of Education, the National Library and Information Systems Authority (NALIS) and the University of the West Indies have expressed their willingness to sign the appropriate licence agreements. TTRRO presently is negotiating with University of T&T (UTT); University of the Southern Caribbean (USC), Arthur Lok Jack Graduate School of Business (GSB) with the expectation of signing Licences by October 2008
• USA:
Copyright Clearance Center
CCC was founded in 1978 at the suggestion of the U.S. Congress that an efficient mechanism for the exchange of rights and royalties be created to facilitate compliance with the then newly revised copyright law. Creators (including authors), publishers and users joined together to form not-for-profit Copyright Clearance Center, Inc.
There is no U.S. statutory license or direct legislative authority. CCC obtains authorizations to license various uses of copyrighted materials through voluntary contracts with individual rightsholders. Voluntary licensing requires significant effort in sales, marketing, and customer service on both the rightsholder and user sides of CCC’s tens of thousands of contracts.
A list of the American publishers who are covered by the CLA Licence is available on the
CLA website (put US in the search box).