Currently, the UK's Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988 provides that the copying of copyrighted material without the copyright owner's permission is illegal. However, it allows copying for the purposes of research or private studying, an exception known as "fair dealing."
Although the Act does not determine how much copying is allowed by the exception, it is accepted that making single photocopies of short extracts of a work is within the scope of fair dealing.
Therefore, at present, a business wishing to make a single copy of a short extract of a book, journal or newspaper for research is covered by the fair dealing exception, and does not need a copyright licence.
Businesses have also the right, under certain conditions, to ask a librarian in a non-profit library to supply them with such copies.
The forthcoming implementation of the EU Copyright Directive will change this. It requires that this exception will exclude copying conducted for research for a commercial purpose.
It is likely that most research undertaken by a business will be for a commercial purpose. Therefore, when the change comes into force, businesses making single photocopies of copyrighted material for commercial purposes will need a licence.
Making more than one photocopy or copying more than a short extract already needs a licence. Usually, businesses license such copying collectively, through the Copyright Licensing Agency and the Newspaper Licensing Agency.
Such licences, issued after the 1st October 2002, cover the limited copying that would have been covered by fair dealing. Therefore, no additional licensing is required in this case. These licences also cover the scanning and e-mail distribution of copyrighted material.
The Copyright Directive should have been implemented in the UK by 22nd December 2002. However, the deadline was missed and it is now expected that implementation will take place sometime in spring 2003.
A second change is brought by the Copyright (Visually Impaired Persons) Act 2002. Organisations currently need a licence to make accessible copies of copyrighted works in formats such as Braille, large print and electronic or audio type for visually impaired people.
Under the new law, single accessible copies may be made for and distributed to the blind for their personal use without a licence, if such copies are not commercially available. The Act also provides that non-profit and educational bodies can make and supply multiple accessible copies without a licence.
Finally, a third change refers to the use of broadcasts in public. At present, UK businesses wishing to use a radio or television in a public place where people have not paid for admission, do not generally need licences form the owners of copyright in the broadcast or any films and sound recordings included in it.
However, in future, broadcasts of music will need a licence from the Performing Right Society, which represents the owners of music copyrights.
Details on licensing schemes for businesses can be found at:
www.cla.co.uk
The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 can be found at:
www.hmso.gov.uk/acts/acts1988/Ukpga_19880048_en_1.htm
The Copyright (Visually Impaired Persons) Act 2002 can be found at:
www.legislation.hmso.gov.uk/acts/acts2002/20020033.htm
The Copyright Directive is available here.