Management Information Sheet

The Department for Education (DfE) buys copyright licences for all state-funded primary and secondary schools in England – covering schools for almost all their copyright requirements.

Purchasing these licences directly means that DfE can save schools money and the administrative time involved in applying for many different licences.

The DfE scheme covers the following educational establishments:

• local-authority-maintained schools (including maintained nurseries)

• academies
• free schools
• special schools (these are schools for children with special educational needs or disabilities)
• non-maintained special schools
• pupil referral units (these provide education for children who can’t attend a mainstream school)

The Dedicated Schools Grant Central School Services Block is currently top-sliced for licences that are paid centrally by the DfE (the costs are to be treated by the local authority as commercial in confidence as per DfE instruction). The cost to each authority is based on census numbers as well as the number of schools and is automatically top-sliced by the DfE from the Dedicated Schools Grant.

The licences cover:

• Copyright Licensing Agency, for copying text and still images from most books, journals and magazines plus a range of digital publications
• Printed Music Licencing Ltd, for copying and arranging from printed music publications. The Copyright Licensing Agency administers this licence
• NLA Media Access, for copying from newspapers and magazines. The Copyright Licensing Agency administers this licence and has information on copying from print and digital newspapers
• Educational Recording Agency, for recording and use of radio and television programmes and clips, including catch-up services like BBC iPlayer, for educational use. The Centre for Education & Finance Management administers this licence and operates a helpdesk for schools providing information about the licence
• Performing Right Society Ltd, for musical performances. The Centre for Education and Finance Management administers this licence
• Phonographic Performance Ltd, for playing recorded music. The Centre for Education and Finance Management administers this licence
• The Mechanical Copyright Protection Society, for making CDs and DVDs containing copyright music. The Centre for Education and Finance Management administers this licence
• Filmbankmedia and Motion Picture Licensing Company for showing films
• Christian Copyright Licensing International for copying and projecting hymns and other Christian music