Picture of children in school sat typing on computer keyboards

Recent Changes to the ERA Scheme

ERA Plus

(1) Have you heard about ERA Plus?

From 1st April 2007

(2) ERA licences issued after 1 April 2007 reflect new tariffs set out in The Copyright (Certification of Licensing Scheme for Educational Recording of Broadcasts) (Educational Recording of Broadcasts) (Educational Recording Agency Limited) Order 2007.

The full order can be obtained from HMSO quoting the reference Statutory Instruments 2007 No. 266.

For licences issued prior to 1 April 2007, the terms will continue to operate to the end of their 1 year term by cross reference to The Copyright (Certification of Licensing Scheme for Educational Recording of Broadcasts) (Educational Recording Agency Limited) Order 2005.

The 2005 Order can be obtained from HMSO quoting the reference Statutory Instruments 2005 No. 222.

Archive

From 1st April 2005

Revised terms were introduced by ERA for educational off-air recording licences issued to educational establishments after 1 April 2005.

The first ERA off-air recording licence scheme was implemented from 30 May 1990. It reflected the terms of section 35 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 ("the Act").

Why were revised terms needed?

The terms applied from 1 April 2005 reflected two changes to the law.

  • Equity, the Musicians' Union and Incorporated Society of Musicians were specified as licensing rights on behalf of their members. This resulted from changes to rights in performances recognised in paragraph 6 of Schedule 2 to the Act, introduced by the Copyright and Related Rights Regulations 2003.
  • Rights licensed covered not only the making of recordings of broadcasts off-air for educational purposes, but also the "communication" of such recordings to students and teachers within the premises of licensed educational establishments. This extended use helped to reflect increased use of computers for access to material stored on school servers and the use of white boards for presenting material in classrooms.

The additonal rights reflected changes to section 35 of the Act following implementation of the Copyright and Related Rights Regulations 2003, with effect from October 2003.

Reflecting changes to section 35, ERA membership was extended to include The Performing Right Society Limited, and Phonographic Performance Limited.

The repertoire of rights relevant to ERA licences was mader wider than ever before.

The new terms include revised tariffs to apply from 1 April 2005.

Extended grant of rights and broader repertoire relevant to licences.

Adjustment to tariffs from 1 April 2005 was needed to reflect the extended rights covered by the revised terms, and the extended repertoire relevant to ERA licences.

Adoption of technology within schools provides greater opportunity for use for recording of broadcasts.

Increased use of computers in the classroom and use of broadband by many schools had reduced the difference in opportunity for use of recordings of broadcast material within primary schools on the one hand, and secondary schools on the other.

This change had made the initial differential between the tariff for primary school students and secondary school students increasingly less relevant. The tariff adjustment from 1 April 2005 took this into account by reducing the gap between the two tariffs.

Other Changes

Labelling

Licences continued to provide that ERA recordings must be labelled to make it clear that the recordings are for non-commercial educational use. The revised terms provided that when ERA recordings are made and stored in digital form for access through a computer, labelling must take the form of a written opening credit or webpage which must be viewed or listened to before access to the ERA recording is permitted.

Termination

The revised terms provided that Licensees may be given 28 days notice of termination of licences if fees due remained unpaid at the end of this time, or a licensee was in substantial breach of the licence terms (for example through permitting unauthorised use of ERA recordings).

The terms provided for interest to be charged at the statutory rate for late payment of licence fees.

ERA Plus

Since 1 August 2007 ERA has offered its licensees the opportunity to take out an additional licence which will enable licensed ERA Recordings to be accessed by students and teachers online...

read more...