As a copyright holder, it is likely that you will want others to use your work according to certain conditions, and this will often be outlined in a licence. When using others’ copyright you will often find that there are terms and conditions attached in the form of a licence.
Licences held by LSE
The following licences cover entire classes of copyright work. LSE pays an annual fee so that staff and students can take advantage of the permissions granted by these licences.
- The Copyright Licensing Agency’s (CLA) Higher Education licence covers the copying of content from books, journals and magazines. The current licence permits the copying of one chapter from a book / two articles from a journal issue or 10% of the work, whichever is greater.
Should you need to copy content to support teaching, this needs to be reported to the CLA. Further information on ordering reading list material can be found on our support for teaching staff page.
LSE subscribes to Box of Broadcasts (BoB), an educational streaming service. Content accessed via BoB can be played to groups on LSE premises, but only within seminar classes or lectures. Video content may not be copied or stored, so if recording the lecture, pause when showing a film or broadcast. Content can be made available to students to watch after the lecture by providing a link directly to the resource.
NB, If showing a short clip from a BoB programme, this use is likely to be covered by a copyright exception and can be included within a lecture recording. Please ask if you’re unsure about whether your use is permitted.
See also our Images, Film and Media page.
LSE Library’s subscriptions
When subscribing to online content such as databases, datasets, ebooks, the library signs an agreement which includes details of reuse permitted by the licence. It’s important to note that where licence terms are more restrictive than acts permitted by legal copyright exceptions they cannot be enforced by the publisher. If you are unsure whether your re-use of subscription resources is permitted, contact us.
Creative Commons licences
Creative Commons licences are widely used in research and education and allow creators to publish their work online, and make it clear to others what can and can’t be done with the work. There are a range of licences available, some place no restrictions on how the material is used (CC0), others allow more limited re-use (eg, CC BY-NC-ND).
For authors whose work is funded by UKRI, please see the JISC publication Publishing under the UKRI open access policy: copyright and Creative Commons licences for further information.
The Open Government Licence / Crown Copyright
The Open Government Licence (OGL) is a copyright licence applied to Crown copyright works. This includes material created by civil servants, ministers and government departments and agencies. It is also available for other public sector organisations to apply to their publications. It allows for content to be copied, published, distributed, transmitted and adapted for both commercial and non-commercial use. Whilst it is a flexible licence, always read the Terms & Conditions to make sure that your use is permitted.
Licensing and LSE Working Papers
A number of LSE departments publish Working Paper series. If you are a member of staff and require assistance with drafting licensing agreements for use with contributors, or require advice on licensing your publications please contact the Copyright Officer in the first instance.
Website Licensing
When accessing websites, databases, online library resources and social media services, the terms of use attached to these resources contain copyright licensing terms. Before reusing content check the relevant terms and conditions – although if you are planning on reusing content by relying on a legal copyright exception this cannot be overridden by contract.