UpFRONT Fair copy

People should be careful what they photocopy and scan. That is the message from Auckland-based Copyright Licensing (CLL), which warns that employees in some organisations expose themselves and their organisation to the risk of legal action for copyright infringement.
CLL is conducting first-time-ever survey of workplace photocopying and scanning practices to get snapshot of copyright information usage.
The company is targeting 750 businesses in the private and public sectors, asking them to complete multi-choice questionnaire covering the type and source of information used in business and its re-use by staff.
Responses will be confidential. The objective is to systematically collect information so CLL can “better understand and – where feasible – better respond to market needs”.
The survey is not, the organisation stresses, witch-hunt to catch out non-complying businesses.
A non-profit organisation that provides copyright licences mainly to educational institutions, CLL has more recently made its licences, which permit fuller legal use of copyrighted resources, available to the corporate and government sectors.
CLL says some organisations recognise the value of copyright permit, while others turn blind eye to the reality that staff often break copyright law.
Since licensing began in 1994, CLL has allocated more than $17 million for distribution to rights-holders in New Zealand and overseas.