Locating copyright owners can be time-consuming and expensive. A JAMCOPY licence provides an affordable and convenient way to obtain copyright permissions so that you don’t have to worry about infringing someone’s copyright. You can also ensure that creators (writers, poets, journalists, playwrights, photographers and illustrators) and publishers are fairly compensated for the use of their work. By copying within the limits of a JAMCOPY licence, you feel confident that you are meeting your obligations under the copyright law.

JAMCOPY’s comprehensive (or blanket) licences provide advance permission from a wide range of sources by a designated institution or group of individuals and are ideal for institutional users of copyright-protected works (e.g. educational institutions, businesses and non-profit organizations).

There are two types of blanket licences:

1. The first type does not require the licensee to track what is actually being copied. In these cases, licence fees are usually calculated on a per capita basis (that is, according to the number of students or employees).
2. The second type of comprehensive licence, referred to as full reporting, requires the licensee to track and report exactly what has been copied. An example is the copy-shops licence. Fees are calculated on a per-page basis.
3. Transactional licences provide convenient copying permissions for one-time or infrequent copying. Licences are issued in advance for one-time use only for copying of specified portions of specific works and fees are calculated on a per-page basis.

Copying authorized under a licence is not intended to replace the purchase of original published works. There are limits to the amount of a work that may be legally copied. Generally, no more than 20 per cent of a work may be copied (the maximum proportion varies according to the type of licence), except in the following instances:

1. Newspapers: An entire article, photograph or other item or the whole of a page can be copied.
2. Magazines and other periodicals: An entire article, essay, poem, short story, play or reproduction of an artistic work can be copied from an issue or volume containing other works.
3. In-print books: An entire article, essay, poem, short story, play, case or reproduction of an artistic work can be copied from a book containing other works, or an entire chapter if the chapter is less than 20 per cent of the book.
4. Out-of-print books: Up to 100 per cent may be copied, after confirmation by JAMCOPY that the work is out-of-print in all available editions. A separate fee may be levied.
5. Further limits may be placed on the making of course packs and anthologies for educational purposes.

Unless permission is granted by the copyright owner, JAMCOPY will not knowingly authorize copying for partisan public political activities or for endorsement or advertising. In addition, copying under a licence is not permitted from:

1. unpublished works
2. any materials intended for one-time use (e.g. workbooks, examination papers)
3. commercial newsletters
4. originals of artistic works (including photographs or prints)
5. print music or
6. works specifically excluded by a copyright owner
7. Depending on the type of licence, the number of copies that can be made will usually be limited to one copy for each student, library user or employee, together with a reasonable number for teaching, supervisory or control purposes.

To date JAMCOPY has entered into bilateral agreements with RROs in the following 34 countries: