Obtaining a ‘Reprographic Usage’ license is compulsory for ALL:

·         Corporate Bodies

·         Educational Institutions

·         All other bodies which do reprographic / digital use of Copyright works

A ‘Reprographic Usage’ License is compulsory for ALL:

·         Corporate bodies, offices

·         Copy / reprography Shops or outlets, and Printers

·         Associations, including but not limited to, industry / commerce / indo-foreign Chambers or Associations

·         News Monitoring Services Organizations

·         Private Tuition Organizations

·         Libraries

·         Educational Institutions:

a.       Government run Educational institutes (includes Universities, Colleges, Schools, Professional Institutes)

b.      Government Financially aided educational Institutes

c.       Private Sector (Proprietorship/Pvt. Ltd/Ltd/trust) whether Non-profit and or for profitable educational institutes/ Establishments registered as such by the Government / not registered by the Government; including but not limited to, Autonomous Establishments: AICTE Approved or Approved by any other Government and / or Non Government Establishments; Affiliated to Government University and/ or Government Approved University; Affiliated to Foreign University and / or Institution: Establishments offering Certificate Courses

·         Government Departments or Public Bodies, Semi Government Establishments and /or Autonomous establishments under the Governments Ministries

·         Not for profit business support organizations/ charitable Organizations, NGO’s

2.       What is the procedure to obtain a license?

Applying for a ‘Reprographic Usage’ license is a five step process:

                                 i.            Read the IRRO Tariff Scheme and assess which categories are applicable to your organization

                               ii.            Calculate the tariffs payable by your organization

                              iii.            Fill-up and Print the IRRO License Application Form

                             iv.            Attach a crossed cheque or demand draft of the total tariff amount in the name of “Indian Reprographic Rights Organisation”, and

                               v.            Courier it to IRRO at:

The Indian Reprographic Rights Organisation, 18/1-C, Institutional Area, Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, New Delhi 110067, India

If you have already received a Notice from IRRO, the license application form and the tariff scheme would be attached with the email.

On clear receipt of your license application fee, IRRO will issue your ‘Reprographic Usage’ license and send it you via email.

3.       What benefits accrue from the license?

·         Securing individual permissions, tracking the creators of published work, keeping data records, etc., before copying, scanning or digitally using copyrighted works involves tedious administrative work which is very time consuming and yet does not guarantee any results. An IRRO license simplifies and eliminates all this work and much more

·         An IRRO license provides simple, pre-authorized clearance for the use of copyright protected content and eliminates the need to locate our copyright owners to obtain permission

·         An IRRO license provides advance permission, within limits, for copying and distributing content electronically, with immediate access to materials, which significantly reduces administrative and licensing costs, saving your valuable time and resources

·         With an IRRO license, organizations can have the confidence that they are meeting their obligations under copyright law and that are legally copying works

4.       Why do I need a license? 

Under the Copyright Act, 1957, using extracts from books, journals, magazines, periodicals, newspapers, works of authors such as fiction, non-fiction, generalist, translators, visual artists, photographers, composers, lyricists, works of publishers like educational material, information, entertainment in various areas activities like education, government, business, and private use and other secondary rights such as reprography and scanning, posting extracts of a published work on the website  etc. – requires the prior permission and a license from the author and publisher whose copyrighted work is being used. The use of published work without permission is illegal act and is an infringement of the copyright of the owner.

Indian Reprographic Rights Organisation is registered under section 33(3) of the Copyright Act of 1957. It is the sole licensing authority in India. Under the Act only one society is registered to do business and can issue or grant licenses in respect of the same class of work in which copyright subsists or in respect to any other right given by the Copyright Act.  For more information handbook on Copyright Act and copyright societies at www.copyright.gov.in can be read.

5.       What other options do I have if I don’t take the license?

An IRRO license is mandatory for all users of print and digital works under the Copyright Act, 1957. Any form of reproduction (photocopying or digital) without an IRRO license is an infringement under the Act.

Theoretically, if a user wanted to get permission from an author / publisher directly, they would have to go through the following steps:

1.       Keep track of each and every photocopy usage, by each and every user, in each and every branch of their organisation – in a system which implemented organisation wide, is certified for data security, transparency and is verifiable by all interested second / third parties.

2.       Identify who ‘all’ are:

a.       Author(s)

b.      Publisher(s)

c.       Other copyright holder(s)

d.      Interested party(s)

…in ‘each’ of those works

3.       Contact each and every author(s), publisher(s), other copyright holder(s) and all other interested parties – in ‘each’ and ‘every’ one of those works.

4.       Get written permission from each and every author(s), publisher(s), other copyright holder(s) and all other interested parties – in ‘each’ and ‘every’ one of those works – in lieu of payment of negotiated license fee / gratis.

5.       And most importantly, ALL of the above would need to be done BEFORE the usage is done.

However, even then you (institution) would still need to procure an IRRO license, because all members of IRRO and all members of each and every RRO with whom IRRO has a bi-lateral agreement, have ‘exclusively’ ‘assigned’ all their past, present and future reprographic rights to IRRO.

6.       What will happen if I don’t take this license?

An IRRO license is mandatory for all users of print and digital works under the Copyright Act, 1957. Any form of reproduction (photocopying or digital) without an IRRO license is an infringement under the Act.

Several recourses are available to IRRO for enforcing and protecting the rights of its members from being infringed under the Copyright Act, 1957 and other legislations:

Criminal Remedies - Chapter XIII, Copyright Act, 1957

7.       What are the various types of licenses?

IRRO offers various kinds of licenses:

A)     Blanket Licenses.

There are two types of blanket licenses:

                                                               i.      The first type of license does not require the licensee to keep a page by page track of what is being copied, within limitations, and royalties are calculated on a per capita basis or p er institution basis. In this type of blanket license IRRO needs to collect information on materials copied from licensees through surveys in order to assist in the distribution of royalties.

                                                             ii.      The second type requires the licensee to track the exact number of copies and report exactly what has been copied and royalties are calculated on a per-page basis. As of now, this type of license is available as an option only for photocopy shops.

B)      Transactional Licenses.

Transactional licenses provide convenient permissions for one-time or infrequent or additional copying and require the licensee to obtain permission in advance of copying. Royalties are calculated on a per-page basis.

C)      Digital License.

A Digital License covers internal use (including scanning, download, printouts, use in Learning Management Systems / Virtual Learning Environments, interactive whiteboards etc.). The original sources may be analogue or digital.

8.       Which types of licenses are compulsory and which are optional?

Blanket licenses wherever applicable are compulsory.

Transactional licenses are optional as per the needs of your organisation.

9.       What is the difference between a blanket license and a transactional license?

Blanket licenses provide blanket permission for usage of all works in IRRO’s repertoire. However, they come with defined limitation and therefore do not allow unlimited or unrestricted reprographic usage. Blanket licenses are mandatory for all organisations.

Transactional licenses are meant to service an organization’s reprographic usage needs which are beyond the scope permitted under the IRRO blanket license.

10.   When is it compulsory to take a transactional license?

When the usage being done by you is likely to exceed or exceeds the limitations of the blanket license already procured by you, that is when you are compulsorily required to apply for a transactional license.

11.   Can IRRO help me procuring a transactional license from an Indian / Foreign author / publisher / other copyright owner, even if that copyright owner is not a member of IRRO / member of a foreign RRO who have a bi-lateral agreement with IRRO?

Yes.

Right to provide authorization lies with the owner of copyright.

12.   How many photocopies and scans can I make?

You can make no more than 20 copies of no more than 10% or 1 chapter of any publication per year.

13.   What if I want to copy more than that?

You have to apply for a specific transactional license for the reprographic usage you want to do.

14.   How long does it take to get a blanket license?

IRRO shall take less than 7 working days from the date of receipt of correctly completed license application form and clear payment to issue the license.

15.   How long does it take to get a transactional license?

IRRO takes less than 2 working days to forward a request for a transactional license to the appropriate copyright owner(s) / agency / RRO anywhere in the world.

Thereafter it is up to the copyright owner(s) / agency / RRO as to long they take to grant the permission and on what terms.

Once granted, IRRO shall forward the confirmation to the transactional license applicant in less than 2 working days of receipt of the same.

On receipt of correctly completed license application form and clear payment, IRRO shall take less than 7 working days from the date of receipt to issue the license.

16.   How long is the license valid?

Blanket licenses are valid for one year from the date of issuing and it have to be renewed on an annual basis.

Transactional licenses are valid for one-time use only strictly as specified in the terms and conditions of the license.

17.   What all is covered under the license?

The license covers ‘reprographic usage’ of printed and digital depictions of copyrighted works – books, newspapers, magazines, journals and all other types of copy righted textual works and visual art illustrations therein – from digital as well as analogue sources.

18.   What are the laws related to this license?

The Copyright Act, 1957 and the Copyright Rules, 1958.

19.   What is the validity of the License?

The license is valid for one year from the date of issuing. It has to be renewed in advance of the date of expiry.