Paying royalties by sharing photocopying data

From 22 September - 7 November 2025, all BCU staff and researchers are required to log what they are photocopying. This data collection exercise enables the Copyright Licensing Agency to pay royalties to the publishers, authors and visual artists for the resources we use.

Our copyright licence allows all staff to photocopy, scan and re-use published material, such as books, journals, periodicals and digital originals to support Learning and Teaching. The Copyright Licensing Agency (CLA) is gathering data on the photocopying and printing of these works to fairly pay royalties to the authors, publishers and visual artists whose works are used in Higher Education.

What you need to know

• This process will take place in the autumn term, 22 September - 7 November 2025
• This will be an ‘all university’ exercise, every member of staff has a responsibility to take part. It is a requirement under the terms of our CLA HE licence
• The exercise will only monitor staff activity, both academic and professional services (this includes PG students if they are carrying out paid work on behalf of BCU) – not students.
• The CLA only require information on what we are photocopying

How to participate

Data will be collected digitally and remotely, CLA won’t be visiting our campuses. There are two ways to share this information:

• CLA copy button embedded in the PaperCut MF printing system: Users pressing a button on the photocopier screen, filling in the number of people they will share the copy with and scanning a copy which is sent directly to the CLA.
• Online form: People can fill in the details of copyrighted material they have reused and record the numbers of copies. 

Resources