The Communicators’ Guide to Copyright

It is probably true that few people entering the public relations industry think that copyright law will play an important role in their working lives. Yet from the very moment that just one press cutting or an online article is reproduced (either in print or digitally) and distributed to a client or colleague, copyright is involved. Understanding basic copyright law is therefore fundamental to working in public relations, and in particular media relations, where success is often measured by media coverage.

In association with CorpComms magazine, NLA media access has developed a handy guide for the PR industry to help ensure practitioners are aware of the copyright landscape and able to share content from a publisher with the appropriate permissions in place.

At its heart copyright retains a simple guiding principle – it’s right to ask permission before using someone else’s property. After all, without the investment that publishers make in quality journalism, there would be no coverage for PRs to show their clients.

In practice it’s a little more complicated than that, which is where the Guide comes in. The Guide will help you understand what licence is suitable for your use and also includes details of new services, licences and content now represented by NLA media access. It also explains what happens to the licence fees you pay and how the royalties are used to support journalism and the publishing industry.

We hope you find the guide informative. For more information contact sdowley@nla.co.uk or call our licensing team on 01892 525273.