Q. How much can be scanned to comply with copyright?

Under the terms of the CLA licence, the limitations permitted under fair dealing are extended to allow multiple copying and the provision of course packs, as long as the number of copies made does not exceed the number of students on the course for which it is provided:

• one article from an issue of a journal
• up to one chapter or 10%, whichever is greater, of a book
• one poem or short story of up to ten pages from an anthology
• one whole scene from a play 
• one whole paper from a set of conference proceedings 
• one whole report of a single case from a volume of judicial proceedings
• or 10% of the total publication, whichever is the greater 
• where a digital publication is not organised in a similar way to conventional printed items, you are advised to exercise your best judgement to copy reasonable extracts.

The blanket licence does not cover certain excluded categories such as some specifically identified publications; material produced by non-participating publishers; printed music; maps; separate illustrations and photographs. A list of these exclusions is available on the CLA's web site Excluded categories and works list.

While most UK publishers, and many other publishers worldwide, participate in the scheme, some have chosen not to authorise the CLA in respect of some or all of their publications. For copying in excess of that permitted under fair dealing, permission will need to be obtained from those publishers directly. Not all U.S. publishers are part of the licensing agreement. The easiest way to check which publications can be copied, is to use the CLA's Title search function.

More information can be found at the Library's Copyright Guide.