The Educational Recording Agency (ERA) Licence permits the recording of UK radio and TV programmes for use within the University for teaching and other non-commercial educational purposes. The ERA Licence authorises the following two non-commercial educational activities:

• Recording from broadcasts made in the UK of the works and performances owned or represented by ERA members( an up-to-date list of members can be found on the ERA website); and
• Electronic communication of licensed recordings within an educational establishment (this does not include online communication).

The ERA Licence covers scheduled free-to-air broadcasts on:

• BBC television and radio,
• ITV Network services, including ITV2 and ITV3,
• Channel Four, E4, More 4, and Film 4,
• Five Television,
• S4C,
• and any other licensed broadcast services.

Please note, this does not include other satellite and cable channels.

Full programmes and extracts can be recorded, but further editing, such as the separation of images from the soundtrack, is not permitted. Whilst the conversion of recordings from analogue to digital format is permitted, the addition of subtitles or audio description is not.

Such recordings may only be communicated to staff and registered students within the University premises. This means, for example, that they may not be communicated in any format to distance learning students outside of the UK.  Please note, recordings may not be made accessible via Canvas or any other web-based means.

Registered students, including UK-based distance learning students, may borrow and take off-site licensed recordings on cassette, CD, or DVD where they have been made available. As this may reduce the University’s ability to ensure adherence to Licence terms and conditions, it is recommended that students be asked to sign a declaration to confirm the material will be used only for legitimate non-commercial educational purposes.

All recordings must be suitably labelled, showing date, name of broadcaster, title of recording, and the following statement: “This recording is to be used only for educational and non-commercial purposes only under the terms of the ERA Licence”. Pre-printed labels can be ordered from the ERA.

On the basis that the University may be requested to provide evidence of compliance with this licence, all recordings must be made by library staff to ensure proper labelling and records are maintained. Please contact the Academic Liaison Librarian for your subject area if you would like a recording to be made.

Further limitations under the ERA Licence can be found on the ERA website. In particular, your attention is drawn to the following:

• On-demand (except BBC Online Services and 4oD*) and interactive programmes and podcasts should not be recorded. *The use of recordings of BBC Online Services and 4oD is controlled by the terms of each service provider.  Please ensure you are familiar with such terms before any recordings are made.
• The ERA should be consulted before recording feature films or advertisements, as these may not be covered by the ERA Licence.
• The use of recordings (or stills from recordings) for entertainment or promotional purposes is prohibited.
• Students may not make recordings under the ERA Licence; only members of staff.

The copying of commercially produced, pre-recorded videos, audio tapes, CDs, and DVDs is not authorised under the ERA Licence. Specific advice should be sought concerning this.