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question If your question isn't covered in our FAQs, click here to send it to us in an email. Alternatively, call on 020 7837 3222 Introduction
to ERA: What and Who Does it Cover?
What is the Educational Recording Agency? On behalf of its Members ERA operates a Licensing Scheme for educational use of copyright protected material. Uniquely serving the UK education sector, ERA is one of a range of collecting societies which help copyright owners and performers derive an income from the licensed use of their literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works. Who are the member organisations of ERA? What does ERA license? ERA grants Licences in accordance with the Licensing Scheme, which has been certified by the Secretary of State under Section 35 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 ('the Act'). The Licences issued by ERA under Section 35 authorise the following two non-commercial activities:
Find out how staff at a licensed establishment can use recordings What are the benefits of copyright and Section 35? Copyright law provides authors and performers with a way of earning a living through the use of their creativity; it also gives broadcasters, producers and publishers the means of benefiting from their investment in that creativity. While copyright law protects the interests of copyright owners it also balances this with the needs of users. Section 35 of the Act achieves that balance by encouraging copyright owners to come together to offer a single, convenient and cost-effective licence, in this case for educational users. Who can take out an ERA Licence? Section 35 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act permits ERA to license 'educational establishments', or their representative bodies, in the following categories:
ERA cannot license public libraries, commercial training organisations or educational units in museums and galleries, as these are not 'educational establishments' according to the Act.
In general, what can I record off-air? The ERA Scheme permits recordings of broadcasts to be made for non-commercial educational use. A 'broadcast' is defined as a transmission for simultaneous and lawful reception by members of the public i.e. it is not encrypted or encoded and is for general reception, unlike pay per view services. The ERA Licence therefore covers scheduled free to air broadcasts on:
Can I record on-demand and interactive services? On-demand and interactive services, i.e. where the viewer or listener actively chooses the viewing or listening time or content of individual programmes, are not considered to be broadcasts under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act and are therefore not covered by the Licence nor by any part of Section 35. Broadcast programme services delivered via the internet, where the provider or broadcaster offers a range of fixed viewing times for the viewer to select from, are not on-demand services and may be recorded. Non-scheduled internet transmissions are not broadcasts and are not covered by the Licence. Can I record 'Podcasts' under the ERA Licence? ERA Licences permit recording of "broadcasts" by educational establishments. "Podcasts" involve "the inclusion of Programmes or parts of them in audio and/or media files containing the domain name and address of the media file and thereafter making the file available for electronic transmission so that the file can be downloaded by third parties for subsequent access". Taking this definition - podcasting involves "electronic transmission" which amounts to "making material available on demand". It does not involve "broadcasting". Podcasts are therefore "on demand services" - and similar to iPlayer. The recording of podcasts will therefore fall outside the ERA licence. Instead any recording will be governed by the contractual terms and conditions that are applied when the podcasts are made available to the public. Are there broadcasts I can't record under the ERA Licence? Only broadcast material owned or represented by ERA Members is licensed by the ERA Scheme for off-air recording. This means that some contents of certain broadcasts, such as some feature films and advertisements, are not covered by the Licence because ERA Members do not own or control the rights in them. However, if you record these broadcasts for non-commercial educational purposes your recordings will not infringe copyright, unless a certified Section 35 licence applies. This is because Section 35 (1) states that where works are not covered by a certified scheme, then educational establishments may reproduce and communicate them electronically on-site without infringing copyright. You will need to adequately acknowledge, i.e. label, any broadcast recordings you make under Section 35 (1). View guidance on labelling. Are there any other licensing schemes for broadcast material not owned by ERA Members? Section 35 permits rights owners who are not ERA members to set up parallel licensing schemes covering the materials they own or represent. To date, only the Open University has set up a licensing scheme covering its own programmes. Can I record parts of programmes? Yes, extracts or parts of a programme may be recorded and then stored in either analogue or digital form. Note that the terms of the ERA Licence, including labelling requirements, also apply to recorded extracts. Can I adapt recordings? No. Programme material must be used as it has been broadcast, so adaptation, amendment, distortion, or mutilation of material is not authorised under the Licence. For example, adapting a recording by separating the original soundtrack from the picture and substituting a new commentary is not permitted. Modern software packages facilitate the extraction and 're-editing' of film and broadcast material, and licensed establishments should ensure that such tools are used responsibly by students. Programme credits are considered part of a broadcast and should not be edited from recordings. Can I subtitle recordings or add audio description? No. The Licence does not authorise the addition of subtitles or audio description to recorded material. However, subtitles and audio description broadcast with programme material can be recorded and should then be treated in the same way as other licensed recordings. If you wish to add subtitles or audio description to recorded material, approach the owners of the works in question to check whether their consent is required. How can I use off-air recordings? Licensed recordings can be retained, stored and copied (in both analogue and digital formats) and then relayed within the establishment, for example online for showing in class. Recordings can be retained to build a resource bank covering diverse topics: from sports and fitness to history of architecture or from citizenship to the environment. What restrictions apply to the use of recordings? Programmes may only be recorded, retained, stored and copied by licensed establishments for non-commercial 'educational purposes'. Although the law does not define this term, licensees will be familiar with types of activities which are commercial in nature, e.g. promotional, which are not purely 'educational'. For clarification, here are some examples of excluded uses:
Who can use recordings? Registered students, teachers or other employees directly involved in the students' education can watch or listen to them. Digital recordings stored on-site, e.g. on an establishment's central server, may only be accessed from on-site terminals. A suitable security or password protection system needs to be in place to ensure recorded material is not accessed by students at home or anywhere off-site, as this is not permitted under the ERA Scheme or any part of Section 35. Can UK-based students borrow recordings? Yes. Registered students (including UK-based distance learning students) may borrow and take off-site licensed recordings on cassette, CD or DVD. As this may reduce licensees' ability to ensure adherence to Licence terms and conditions, ERA recommends that you ask students to sign a declaration to confirm the material will be used only for legitimate non-commercial educational purposes. Can I supply recordings to students based overseas? No. Supplying recordings in either hard copy form or by electronic means to distance learning students outside the UK is not permitted. Can I embed recordings in Power Point presentations? Yes, including licensed recordings in such presentations is permitted, as long as the Licence conditions are met. Making, Storing and Retaining Recordings Who can make recordings? Teachers or other employees of a licensed educational establishment e.g. technicians, librarians or auxiliaries, may make recordings on-site or at home. Recordings made off-site may only be delivered to the establishment in hard copy form e.g. DVD, cassette etc. and not using on-line services such as email. Recordings may also be made by a resource centre covered by a blanket Licence (e.g. a Local Education Authority Licence) on behalf of licensed educational establishments. Licensees may also nominate a third party, e.g. a local health promotion unit, to record and copy broadcast material on their behalf under a written third party agreement with ERA. Copies made by an authorised resource centre or other third party may only be delivered to the establishment in hard copy form and not by email, unless prior written permission has been obtained from ERA. How can I store recordings? Recordings can be made directly onto video or audio tapes, DVDs and CDs. Digital recordings may also be stored on a licensed establishment's server. Appropriate security systems must be in place to ensure only on-site access to these recordings. Can I make additional copies of my recordings? Yes, recordings made under the Scheme may be copied for educational use, as long as the conditions of the ERA Licence are met and no commercial element is involved. For example, licensed establishments may copy recordings and supply them on cassette or disc to ERA licensees who have missed a broadcast. Note that on-line delivery and electronic transmission of copies between licensees or a licensed resource centre is not permitted. Licensees making copies for other licensed establishments may recover out-of-pocket costs e.g. postage, purchase of video, DVD, CD etc. Charging a fee over and above out-of-pocket costs for copies provided to a third party is 'dealing' under the Act and is not permitted. Copies that are dealt with are infringing copies and may leave anyone responsible for the dealing open to legal action. Does the ERA Licence cover the copying of pre-recorded videos? The copying of commercially produced, pre-recorded videos, audio tapes, CDs and DVDs is not authorised by the ERA Scheme. Can I digitise my analogue recordings? Yes, analogue recordings made under Licence may be transferred into digital formats for the educational use of licensed establishments. For example, recordings currently on video may be digitised and stored on DVD or on the licensee's server. How long can I retain recorded material?
Recordings which are no longer needed or covered by a current Licence must be destroyed and may not be sold or otherwise dealt with. Do recordings need to be labelled? Yes. All recordings, whether analogue or digital, must be clearly and appropriately labelled. Failure to do so may lead to Licences being withdrawn. What do I need to include on the label? Always label or mark up the cassette or jewel case plus the tape or disc itself with the following:
How do I label digital recordings stored on a server? Include the required details as a written opening credit or webpage which must be viewed or listened to before access to the recording is permitted. Can I get labels from ERA? Yes, order now Administration, Regulation and Tariffs How does ERA ensure compliance with the Licence? Under the terms of the Licence, ERA is entitled to inspect recordings, including how they are stored and labelled. By prior arrangement ERA's liaison officer visits licensed establishments to check compliance and to help establishments maximise their use of the ERA Scheme. What happens to an educational establishment which uses recordings without a Licence? An establishment making or using off-air recordings without an ERA Licence is in breach of copyright law and risks criminal prosecution or civil action. How is Scheme usage monitored? From time to time, ERA may require a small sample of educational establishments to help monitor the effectiveness of the Scheme. This may involve licensees in simple record-keeping or completion of a short survey. Our liaison officer visits participating establishments to explain procedures and is available to assist with queries throughout the exercise. How much does an ERA Licence cost? Licence fees are calculated on an annual basis according to:
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