Photocopying and copyright: attitudes to licensing

Abstract

The present law of copyright concerning photocopying is summarised The licensing scheme proposed by the Copyright Licensing Agency is outlined and a case study is described to determine users' attitudes to such a licence. The educational sector has shown willingness to negotiate with the CLA for better terms but industrial organisations seem to prefer to wait until the law is changed They see negotiating with the CLA as implying recognition of their interpretation of the present law. Only Local Education Authorities have negotiated a tem porary CLA licence, and further assessment must await their evaluation of the one year trial.