Originally called the Newspaper Licensing Agency, we were set up by eight national newspaper companies to protect the industry's copyright through collective licensing. 

Our role was to enable media monitoring agencies, PR consultancies and a range of client organisations to reproduce content with permission.

Previously organisations had to negotiate copyright charges directly with publishers, which was time consuming and led to an opaque fee structure. 

Initially NLA licences covered a limited number of print publications but the portfolio has steadily grown and now consists of thousands of printed and online titles.

With the introduction of the eClips database in 2006, we've improved our service to the media monitoring industry, by providing a higher quality alternative to scanning -  enabling media monitoring agencies to offer a better service to their clients.

In 2013 more than 200,000 organisations rely on our annual licences, and 33 monitoring agencies in 10 countries use eClips database services.

Eighty per cent of our revenues are returned to the publishers to be invested back into the industry. In 2012 NLA media access revenues equated to the salaries of 950 journalists.

So your copyright licence helps our industry maintain the standards of journalism that are the envy of the world.