Copying and reusing published content without permission puts your organisation at risk of infringing copyright law. Therefore, if your organisation copies or shares published content, whether from books, journals, or online articles, you’ll likely need a copyright licence to stay compliant. CLA offers many sector-specific licences including a CLA Business Licence, which give your team the freedom to reuse millions of online and print publications with confidence, enabling you to:

  • Reduce copyright risk with blanket cover across millions of UK and international titles.
  • Provide employees with the confidence to reuse content in presentations, L&D and market research.
  • Streamline permissions into one simple licence instead of individual approvals.

CLA and NLA: Different licences for different content

The Copyright Licensing Agency (CLA) and NLA Media Access (NLA) are separate licensing bodies, each covering different types of material. The licence you need depends on what your organisation copies. There is no overlap between the publications covered by the two licences. If your team copies or reuses content from both sets of materials, you’ll need a licence from each organisation to stay compliant.

Find out more about a CLA Business Licence today.

Licence Cover

While NLA and CLA are both copyright licenses, they cover different repertoires of material protected by copyright.
Licence cover CLA logo NLA Media Access Logo
Books All books published in the UK None
Journals All peer-reviewed STM and HSS journals published in the UK
Magazines (B2B & Consumer titles) 6,924 titles 1,903 titles
UK Newspapers None Most UK national and regional titles
International titles All books, magazines and journals published in 41 territories; some newspaper titles represented by Knowledge Bylanes and Syndigate Newspaper titles from 26 territories
Websites 12,925 web media sites 959 web media sites

Make the most of your CLA Licence

  • Use licensed content confidently for the purpose and duration outlined in your licence agreement.
  • Address compliance gaps before they become copyright infringement.
  • Cover your organisation with a blanket licence, making content sharing lawful across teams.

Following these best practices demonstrates your organisation’s commitment to responsible content use and strengthens good governance.

“84% of UK professionals copy, reproduce or extract content at work – a CLA Licence helps ensure they do it lawfully.”

*All figures come from the CLA commissioned survey conducted independently by Savanta in April 2024

Stay compliant. Save time. Protect your reputation.

Do you receive press cuttings?

If your organisation receives media clippings from a PR agency or a Media Monitoring Organisation, you require a CLA Business Licence to share these clippings internally.

This includes saving them to a shared drive, email, printing, copying or even forwarding these clippings throughout your organisation. Without the appropriate copyright licence, you are at risk of copyright infringement.

Understanding Workplace GAI Permissions

Generative AI (GAI) tools are transforming how organisations create, analyse, and share content, but using published material in prompts comes with copyright responsibilities. CLA’s updated workplace GAI licence permissions allow lawful inclusion of permitted published content when prompting approved GAI tools, ensuring compliance and protection from infringement risks. Subject to licence terms.

Check Permissions

5 workplace copyright myths debunked

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The Generative AI Era: Embracing innovation and Good Governance

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Understanding fair dealing and leveraging licensing

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Simple Application Process

Once you’ve filled out the enquiry form, a CLA team member will contact you to discuss the best licence for your needs and guide you through the simple 1-page application.

Business licence enquiry: