Individual u3as can buy a Copyright Licensing Agency (CLA) licence via the Third Age Trust.
A CLA Licence allows the copying and re-use of extracts from digital and print books, magazines, journals and websites for educational and teaching purposes.
Copies must not exceed one chapter of a book, one article from a publication, one short story or poem from an anthology, or one case report from a published report of judicial proceedings, or 5% of the total, whichever is greater. For digital material, copying must be limited to extracts that are equivalent to these limits. Members are entitled to share copies with one another in person or online for educational and teaching purposes but must not circulate copies more widely. Paper copies intended for a meeting of an interest group must not exceed the number of members attending.
Please check that your u3a has a current CLA licence before copying or re-using any digital or printed material.
Certain works are not covered by the CLA Licence, as the copyright owner has intentionally excluded them from this scheme. The lists of these works can be checked on the CLA website: https://cla.co.uk/excluded.
Similarly, the following published works are not covered by the CLA licence. If the copyright for a certain work has not expired, then you will need to evaluate on an individual basis. These include:
- maps and charts - consult the Ordnance Survey or Google maps or other source for the necessary permissions.
- newspapers - consult the Newspaper Licensing Agency for the necessary licence.
- printed sheet music including lyrics - unless the work is out of copyright, direct permission has been granted, or the use falls under one of the limited copyright exceptions. Please note that certain copyright owners have agreed that they will not institute proceedings if copies are made in certain circumstances in respect of music both printed and published in the UK, notwithstanding the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 – please see the Music Publishers Association’s Code of Fair Practice on the Graphic Copying of Music.
- workbooks, work cards or assignment sheets.
The CLA licence runs from 1 August and is valid for 12 months.
The fee for 2025/26 is £69.37
The fee for 2026/27 is £72.00
To purchase a CLA licence from the Third Age Trust please send a BACS payment to the account detailed below with a reference number in the requested format e.g. York CLA26/27.
Account Name: The Third Age Trust
Sort Code: 20-21-78
Account Number: 80892092
Reference: [Your u3a Name] [year of CLA]
Please ensure your payment reference clearly identifies your u3a, and the year of the licence, otherwise we will not be able to allocate a licence to you.
Further details about the cover provided by a Further Education CLA licence is available on this webpage: CLA Further Education Licence Documents.