This document sets out guidance for NHS Ayrshire & Arran staff on how to comply with copyright legislation and provides details of the Copyright Licensing Agency (CLA) license for NHS Scotland. Use of copyrighted data without permission could result in legal proceedings being raised against NHS Ayrshire & Arran.

• The CLA License for NHS Scotland is managed by NHS Education for Scotland (NES). It covers staff and contractors working for NHS Scotland, including hospices and GPs, Health & Social Care Partnership Staff who are engaged in NHS activities and healthcare students on placement within the NHS. The CLA website provides details of the license and a handy tool for checking permissions.
• The CLA License permits paper or digital copies to be made from most print magazines, books and journals. It also covers a selected number of digital publications (visible at cla.co.uk) beyond those covered by NES licenses with publishers.
• The CLA License does not cover material outside this scope, including diagnostic tools and tests, photographs, illustrations or images on their own (e.g. not part of an article), newspapers, websites and webpages outside the NES and CLA licensed publications. These materials remain protected from copying by copyright law.

• If your organisation or another part of NHS Scotland owns a print version of a book or journal, you may copy or scan up to a single chapter of a book, or up to 2 articles from a periodical, or up to 5% of the publication, whichever is the greater.
  • Within these limits above, you may also make multiple copies.
• If your organisation or another part of NHS Scotland does not own the print version of a book or journal, you may request a copyright fee paid copy from Library and Knowledge Services. Please contact library@aapct.scot.nhs.uk.

• The place to search for an item should be the NHS Scotland Knowledge Network. Resources contained therein are licensed for use by NHS Scotland and partner agencies. You can:
  • Read an item online
  • Print a copy
  • Save a copy to your own personal disk space.

You may:-

• Distribute a link to an item on The Knowledge Network.
• Distribute a copy of an item from The Knowledge Network or copyright fee paid item by email. E.g. for journal clubs.
• Make a digital copy of an item available on a secure intranet network (not on a publicly available internet site)
• Print off a single paper copy for a patient or carer provided the content is relevant for their treatment.

• Information posted on the internet is protected by copyright.
• All text, images, illustrations, diagrams, graphs and tables may be subject to copyright.
• It is generally assumed that material distributed via the internet may be downloaded, copied and used in some way. However, you should attempt to locate a copyright and/or usage statement from the author or publisher associated with the page/item. If there is no such statement, you will need to seek the permission of the site owner or author to use any text, images or other material.
• Providing a hyperlink to another website is not protected by copyright and is therefore permissible. It is good practice to indicate that direction to an external website does not constitute endorsement of that website and that there may be copyright implications relating to the material on that website. For example: “By clicking on links to external web pages within this document you may be taken to a third party website. The inclusion of links does not necessarily indicate an endorsement by NHS Ayrshire & Arran and we are not responsible for any content or activities of any linked websites”.

• Images and graphics are covered by copyright legislation. Terms of use are usually provided on the website/print publication. Permission to download, re-use or copy graphics and images from the internet must be sought from the copyright holder unless permission is indicated on the website.
• NHS Scotland Photo Library provides a bank of images for use by NHS Scotland and partner organisation staff subject to the terms and conditions detailed on the website.
• Google contains a Tools feature to narrow down search results for images according to usage rights. This may help to find images which may be reused but it is important to check the terms and conditions of the website owning the image regarding copyright permission.

• Tools and measures (e.g. rating scales, tests) are covered by copyright legislation.
• The NHS Scotland Tools and Measures Catalogue is maintained by NHS Scotland librarians. It is a catalogue of Diagnostic Tools and Outcome Measures which may be of use for patients in NHS Scotland. You can search the catalogue to see if the copyright permission is set out for the particular tool or measure you wish to use and, if not, make a request to establish copyright permission.

• Guidance on how to seek copyright permission is available from Library and Knowledge Services (LKS) – library@aapct.scot.nhs.uk
• Staff may request LKS staff attempt to achieve copyright permission for the requestor’s intended purpose on their behalf.
• Copies of printed materials and journal articles for personal use will be obtained by LKS staff where available at no cost to the requestor.
• Copyright permission for other purposes (e.g. publication to a website, educational presentation, tools and measures) may incur a cost.
• NHS Ayrshire & Arran has approved use of the Copyright Clearance Center Marketplace to request copyright permission for reuse of content from publishers around the world.
• If you wish to place a request through the Copyright Clearance Center yourself:
  • Set up a personal/departmental online account on their website.
  • If the permission for the reproduction of the article/book/image is available through CCC, it will let you know if there is a fee for the reproduction and ask for a purchase order number.
  • Put in an order through PECOS procurement system to generate a purchase order number for the required amount and enter this to the online request to complete the application.
• Alternatively, LKS staff can put in a request on a requestor’s behalf. Requestors will be advised of any cost liable and will be asked to supply a departmental cost code if they agree to proceed.

1. Does copyright apply to clipart? Yes and No. Clipart on your machine is okay to use in presentation as but if you connect to Clipart online, you must ensure you have permission to use the image.
2. I see that the resource I want to use is free for educational/non-profit use – surely that is the NHS and I can use without further permission? No. The NHS is not deemed non-profit or educational within the law. We are treated the same as any commercial organisation and are held by the same laws and regulations.
3. I have found an image that is copyright free but it is asking for payment is this correct? Do I have to pay to use images? Yes in many cases you will have to pay, especially if this is a specialist image. Royalty free does not mean payment free. Many images online are purchased from specialist suppliers. Knowledge Services can help you find free images, but these are limited and in many cases, a small payment can get you high quality images you can use over and over again.
4. I am the author of an article in a journal, does that mean I don’t need to seek permission to use it in a conference or a journal club. Not necessarily. Some journals require you to waive your rights to copyright and you cannot use the article again without further permissions. Check with Library and Knowledge Services for further help.