The first week of October saw the 49^th FIBEP World Media Intelligence Congress in Berlin, an opportunity for media monitoring companies from around the world to meet, network, exchange ideas and experiences, and listen to a range of talks and panels on areas of interest to the sector. The theme of this year’s congress was ‘Media Intelligence and the New Paradigm of Brand Communication.’

I attended, meeting clients as well as new faces providing the opportunity in getting up to date with the issues that face MMOs, one talk in particular stood out as having interest for those of us who work in publishing; the handling of content and copyright. It spurred me on to go and read up on how this technology can be used in our sector.

The talk in question was given by Dr. Elisabeth Hödl from Ubifacts in Austria and was entitled ‘Solving Trust Issues through Blockchain’.  

For the uninitiated (as I was myself a week ago) this blog post by Nik Custodio on Coindesk has the best explanation I have come across: Bitcoin explanation even a five year old will understand. To encapsulate something that is really quite complex into a bitesize blog friendly chunk, it might be helpful to describe Blockchain as a publicly accessible, decentralised ledger - a giant network, which records transactions.  Since it allows near instantaneous transfers anywhere in a matter of seconds without the need for banks or the involvement of any authorities, its primary application has been in the financial sectors. (You may have heard about its most famous application – the digital currency Bitcoin for example)

What does it mean for those of us who work in publishing and copyright?

The relevant applications are twofold – one, it has relevance for news sites looking to monetise content (see the New Scientist blog post) and two, as a means to validate content to combat fake news. It’s the latter that I will focus on here.

The democratisation of content in the online age and all its attendant benefits is well documented elsewhere, but it has also brought a sizeable pitfall to the news landscape in the digital age: Verifiability. How can readers be assured that what they are reading online is trustworthy? The most recent, very obvious and noisy icon of the fake news issue is the 2016 US elections during which even the mainstream US outlets engaged in public mudslinging about bias.

A number of start-ups have recently waded into the fray with novel ideas to use Blockchain to combat this very 21^st Century problem. Snip and Userfeeds are two of the best known, and aim to utilise that ‘decentralisation’ that I talked about above to help readers navigate the mass of content with open eyes.

Snip, as the name suggests, offers concise news stories, covering a wide range of topics. Snip uses SnipCoin, its proprietary ‘cryptocurrency’ and the community of writers who write the stories on Snip are ‘paid’ in SnipCoins. These can be used by readers and advertisers alike to spend on the platform. The important bit here is that readers can rate content and flag them as erroneous or fake, ensuring that users get to vet the content for other users.

So, what next? As is often the case with new technologies, nothing will happen quickly and there is much work to be done. However, in a world where fake news is a real concern with real impact on revenue lines, the implementation of new technologies like Blockchain to the publishing sector can only be a help. Clearly, whether an article is actually ‘true’ or not, is outside of the scope of Blockchain, but until that point such technology exists, this seems like a very good start.

With the rise of smartphones and digital platforms over the last ten years, online news content has risen exponentially. While undoubtedly this has put pressure on the publishers of regional and local newspapers, it has also created an exciting prospect for them.

An opportunity to earn audience trust

A survey from Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at Oxford University found that trust in social media is declining. The research found that just 18% of those in the UK believe that social media does a good job of separating fact from fiction.

These circumstances have fostered a unique opportunity for local and regional newspapers, as a good example of being a source of information in the media.

Establishing trust with audiences is a topic that was echoed at the recent Digital Journalism Summit, hosted by Press Gazette. In the words of Newsquest CEO Henry Faure Walker, “Local news brands beat Facebook hands down when it comes to trust and relevance”.

The importance of this cannot be understated for regional and local publishers. While trust in credibility has declined in the ever-increasingly fragmented world of the general media, regional and local publishers can boast long-standing credibility with their audiences.

In fact, Faure Walker stressed this when he went on to say, “At Newsquest most of our daily news sites are read at least once a month by over 70% of adults in our respective towns and cities across the U.K.  When you consider that Facebook’s audience penetration is only 50% and now plateauing, you start to appreciate the power of local news brands.”

Another attendee of the Summit, Alison Gow of Trinity Mirror Regionals, built on this, saying: “People care about what affects them, and the human faces at the front of it. Gain the trust of people – know your patch, and get good content. Let people tell the story.”

With a focus on what’s happening in the community, local and regional papers have a track record of putting people at the heart of their news content and in turn, earn trust with their readers.

An opportunity to deliver trust to advertisers

Trust builds brand loyalty; something that’s particularly important as news consumption habits evolve.  In an ever-changing and challenging market, regional publishers are working together, not against each other. One result of this collaboration is 1XL, which represents over 30 regional newspaper publishers.

Speaking directly to NLA media access, Faure Walker (also one of the founders of 1XL) said: “Online, local news sites are nearly three times more trusted than social media. Brands who advertise with us know that they will not appear next to any inappropriate content.  Unlike Facebook or YouTube, our content is curated and checked by thousands of hard-working professional journalists up and down the country.

“And because of this we deliver great results for our advertisers.  Through industry collaboration such as 1XL, which brings together 30 regional publishers across the UK, we have also become much easier to transact with.

“It is vital that national advertisers and their ad agencies make the most of what we have to offer as a sector.  And they can do so in the knowledge that advertising with us also helps to sustain great local journalism, a great public good and a backbone of local democracy.”

What NLA media access is doing in the fight for real news  

NLA works hard to support publishers wherever possible and will continue to do so.  The company not only provides copyright protection to these trusted publishers, but it also returns over 80 per cent of revenue back to national and regional publishers allowing them to reinvest this money into supporting quality journalism.

If you want to find out more about what we do, head to the company’s website: 
www.nlamediaaccess.com

And to take a look at what NLA is doing to help combat fake news, find out about our OATS product here.

NLA media access has bolstered its range of international partnerships with the inclusion of both Poland and Australia to its portfolio of news content. This means that NLA licence holders now have access to, and the ability to share, significantly more content from across the globe.

Australia

January 2018 saw NLA media access partner with Copyright Agency (Australia) which allows licence holders access to leading Australian content from the likes of Australian Financial Review, The Australian and Sydney Morning Herald.

NLA has also extended the rights it grants Copyright Australia for UK content to include most Asia Pacific countries.

Poland

In late 2017, Polish news licensing body Repropol and NLA media access agreed an exchange of rights. This agreement allows both organisations to license each other’s content to their respective media monitoring clients and licensees creating an even more comprehensive solution.

Jan Ruranski, board member at Repropol, added: “Extending our licence coverage to include leading UK content will be welcomed by our users, and our publishers will benefit from NLA’s licensing of Polish content in the UK.  The new agreement demonstrates our commitment to licensing, and to working in partnership with the many established licensing bodies, both in Europe and further afield.”

2018 and beyond

Commenting on the two agreements, Andrew Hughes, International Director at NLA media access, noted:

“With the growth of a globalised media landscape, it’s our job to make sure our licensees can access the content they need.

“Ease of use is essential for everyone and these partnerships are further steps towards making copyright compliance easier for users of monitoring services. Our users in the UK and abroad have requested wider coverage and we are responding. This is a further significant extension of the NLA international content offering and we are confident the UK and international markets will welcome this development” 

With a mission to support journalism as well as provide the best possible service for media monitoring companies and clients, NLA media access will be announcing more agreements this year to further extend its service.

About NLA media access

NLA media access was first established in 1996 and protects the publishing industry's copyright through collective licensing.  Its role is to enable over 200,000 organisations, including media monitoring clients and licensees, to reproduce content from over 3,600 newspaper and magazine titles with permission. Since its creation, NLA’s portfolio has expanded and currently consists of thousands of titles, both online and in print. In 2016, the company returned £36m to publishers. NLA also offers several cost saving services for publishers, including Clipshare - a fully searchable archive of newspaper and magazine content dating back to 2006. 

On 6th February 2018, Prime Minister Theresa May announced a review into the future of newspapers. Speaking in Manchester, the Prime Minister noted that the closure of titles was a “danger to our democracy”. She also highlighted that journalism is “a huge force for good”, but is under threat due to modern technology, falling circulations, and the closure of local papers.

In a press release issued by The Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport, it was outlined that the review will examine the overall health of the news media, the range of news available and how the press is adapting to the new digital market.

The review will also focus on the local and regional press, the operation of the digital advertising supply chain, as well as ‘clickbait’ and low quality news.

Commenting on the news David Dinsmore, News Media Association (NMA) chairman, said, "The NMA welcomes this announcement on behalf of the national, regional and local news media industry. This review acknowledges the importance of journalism in a democratic society, the vital role that the press takes in holding the powerful to account and producing verified news which informs the public.

“Viable business models must be found that ensure a wide variety of media are able to have a long and healthy future. Through digital platforms, news content is more widely consumed than ever before but the revenues to sustain the investment in that quality content are challenged. This review on a sustainable future is very welcome.”

Henry Jones, Managing Director at NLA media access comments, “NLA media access provides an important source of revenue to hundreds of UK publishers and is committed to continuing to support quality journalism. We welcome the government’s announcement and believe more should be done to protect the future of our world-class national, regional and local news.

“With the increasing number of threats to journalism, from the rise of digital platforms challenging revenue streams, to the growing presence of fake news adding questions of authority and authenticity, now more than ever it is important to do what we can to support news publishers, so they can continue to uphold their role in society.”

Read more about how NLA media access supports journalism here.

NLA's mission in supporting quality journalism has never been more important.  At a time when 'fake news' is rife and the threat to publishers of digital platforms such as Google and Facebook is only increasing, NLA is returning record-breaking royalties to publishers for their content. 

In 2017 we saw revenues increase to more than £43.8 million which meant the distribution to shareholders and publishers grew by 3.7%.  Our client base surpassed 10,000 licensees for the first time, and we provided more content to more media monitoring companies (MMOs) than ever before.

We also experienced significant growth in our international business, with six new agreements allowing companies abroad to re-use UK newspaper content legally and for UK companies to do the same with foreign news.

This was all achieved on a backdrop of internal company restructuring and innovation. NLA media access has acted as a conduit between publishers, MMOs and licensees for many years, however as both industries have evolved, so must we, and considerable effort was - and will continue to be - put into new products and services NLA can offer to enhance the respective organisations’ operations.

Whilst the fruits of much of our labour will be seen throughout this year (and beyond), we did launch eClips Web Specialist in late 2017, allowing participating MMOs uninterrupted and reliable access to 14 specialist paywalled websites, with many more in development.

Andrew Hughes, International Director of NLA media access presenting Joanne Butcher, Chief Executive of the NCTJ with a cheque for £100,000 at the annual Journalism Diversity Fund celebratory event.

Today is International Women’s Day (IWD) and looking back across the events that unfolded over the past year, it’s more significant than ever. Since last year’s IWD, we’ve seen women’s marches across the globe, the Harvey Weinstein scandal and the #MeToo & #TimesUp movements unfold, gender pay gap reporting and the 100-year anniversary of women’s right to vote.

Gender equality is part of a wider issue; businesses are not as diverse as they need to be. Many studies have shown that diverse groups of people have a higher group intellect and are more profitable for businesses. In journalism, diversity allows an outlet to reduce bias, as well as bring together a group of people with varied backgrounds and experiences to be able to report on the huge variety of stories that happen every day. That is why we support the Journalism Diversity Fund (JDF), a bursary scheme which we have supported since the fund’s inception in 2005. Our last donation in was £100,000, bringing NLA’s total contribution to the fund to over £1.2 million.

The JDF was set up by the newspaper industry in 2005. The aim of the JDF is to create a route for aspiring journalists from ethnically and socially diverse backgrounds. The bursary supports them in their NCTJ Diploma in Journalism studies, recognised as the kite mark qualification in the industry which provides them with the solid foundation on which to enter  the newsroom and represent the diverse communities they report on. Along with major donations from NLA media access, the Journalism Diversity Fund is supported by Bloomberg, the BBC, DMG Media, Sky, the Press Association, the Financial Times, The Printing Charity, Thomson Reuters and Google News Lab.

Donations over the years have helped drive real change in the industry, supporting aspiring journalists from differing backgrounds. Since its launch, the Journalism Diversity Fund has awarded bursaries to 257 students, helping them start a career in journalism which many would not have found possible without the funding. This has increased the prevalence of journalists from a wide range of socially and ethnically diverse backgrounds.

One such example is Khaleda Rahman: currently working at the Daily Mail. She was awarded a JDF bursary in 2012 to complete her fast-track Diploma in Journalism with News Associates London. Commenting on her experience Khaleda said:

“Thanks to the funding I received from the Journalism Diversity Fund, I was able to get my NCTJ qualification without stressing about finances while studying. After qualifying, I worked as an intern for the JDF and helped other students working towards their NCTJ. Then, I got my foot in the door of the newspaper industry with an internship at a local newspaper that I secured thanks to the continued support I received from the JDF. From there, I went on to land a place on the MailOnline graduate scheme and have recently returned to London after stints in New York and Sydney. It’s safe to say I definitely wouldn’t be where I am today if not for the JDF!”

Andrew Hughes, International Director of NLA media access commented:

“NLA media access is owned by the UK press, and our mission is supporting journalism by ensuring businesses which rely on newspaper content can do so easily and legally. The board and staff of the NLA are proud of our association with the great work done by the NCTJ Journalism Diversity Fund, and especially with the recipients of the JDF bursaries.”

When accepting the donation, NCTJ Chief Executive, Joanne Butcher, stated:

“I’d like to sincerely thank NLA media access, the Journalism Diversity Fund’s lead sponsor. This generous donation, which has been made annually since 2005, is very welcome and never taken for granted.”

The deadline for the first round of 2018 applications for the Journalism Diversity Fund bursaries is on 25^th April. For the full schedule, please click here.

This year is the 20^th anniversary of Local Newspaper Week, a celebration of the work done by local outlets and journalists in creating trusted and quality news that supports local communities.

In the past 20 years there has been a shift in how news is consumed, with more and more people turning to social media and online platforms to receive their news.

With this change to digital comes copyright threats in the online sphere as well as copycat websites that adjust the content, contributing to the rise in fake news. As a YouGov poll found earlier this year, local papers are considered the most credible source of regional news, ahead of local TV and radio (trusted by 73 per cent), and search engines (43 per cent). In order to maintain this trust, there is a behind-the-scenes battle to find and take down content that has been republished without permission, credit or copyright. Over just one week, approximately 2,700 articles from our publisher partners are cut and copied onto other sites. Furthermore, these sites then sell advertising space and make money from the pirated content.

Three years ago, NLA created our Online Article Tracking System (OATS) which searches and detects these instances of copyright abuse across vast quantities of online article data. OATS can analyse every article that’s produced by an online newspaper in the last two months, and then find cases of where these articles have been copied by a particular domain. To do this manually would take days of work. As well as this, using OATS also makes reporting and removing pirated content a faster process.

OATS detects and deals with a variety of copyright abuses which range from parts-of, to full articles, as well as photographs or captions that have been copied and posted without permission. The most common types of copyright abuse are:

• Copying / lifting text from an online article and adding a credit to the name of the original publisher. This usually occurs because there is an ignorance around copyright law and terms and conditions. In our experience, once you notify the infringing domain, they remove the content.
• Copying / lifting parts of (or all of) the text from an online article and not adding credit / linking to the original publisher. These sites tend to design the layout to look as though it's their own original work by their own reporters.
• Occasionally, websites that replicate a major news site in terms of design and URL. Sometimes the content is kept the same however content can be changed, often altering it slightly which gives the article a new tone or message. These instances of slightly-altered content contribute to the issue of fake news.

In most instances, we contact the domain hosting the copyrighted content directly, inform them that they are in breach of copyright and ask them to remove the content. This process reduces the chance of the same person and/or domain repeating the offence. However, if after multiple attempts we're unable to contact the owner of the domain, we contact the domain hosting provider and issue a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) notice to remove the content.

Three years on, OATS is becoming a vital tool for both national and regional publishers to identify and communicate with the websites infringing on copyright. In 2016, we removed a total of 95,076 articles from 679 domains with a 79.98% success rate.  In 2017, these numbers grew even further with 98,643 articles removed from 867 domains with a 91.8% success rate.

Chris Lukins, OATS Manager at NLA media access comments “OATS has fast become an important tool for publishers, both national and regional, especially with the rise of fake news. Our success rate continues to increase year-on-year and in 2018, we will continue the fight for real news and support real journalism.”

Michael Pocock, Director of Content Partnerships, at ESI Media (whose portfolio includes The Independent, Evening Standard and ES Magazine), said of working with NLA media access: “NLA discovered and removed over 13,000 individual articles that had been lifted from The Independent and Evening Standard websites across 2017 and republished on over 100 infringing websites without our permission. OATS has been a great resource for identifying these illegal usages and provides a solution that allows multiple publishers to efficiently and proactively address such copyright infringement without the extensive resource that would be necessary to cater for that individually.”  

Delegates from over 20 countries gathered in London earlier this month at the Press Database Licensing Network (PDLN) annual conference. The conference (hosted by NLA) aims to help publishers, licensing organisations and media monitoring companies produce better international content for business. PDLN now has 26 members in 20 countries worldwide, and the admission of The New York Times as its first publisher member was notable. The event was a success, bringing in 68 attendees from across the globe with especially strong US representation from The New York Times, Burrelles Luce, Associated Press, Tribune, and CCC(Copyright Clearance Center). The conference also saw members from New Zealand, Australia, Japan and Korea. 

A dinner at Stationers Hall was a highlight for many, but sharing experiences and ideas was at the heart of the event. Speakers included:

Alice Ting, Head of Syndication and Brand Licensing at New York Times

Bénédicte Autret, Head of Strategic Relations UK and Benelux at Google

Johna Burke, President of FIBEP (also Burrelles Luce)

Caroline Morgan, Secretary General at International Federation of Reproduction Rights Organisations (IFRRO)

Elenora Rosati, Legal Expert at Southampton University

Carlos Amaral, CEO of Priberum and contributor to the EU SUMMA Project

NLA thanks everyone who attended. More detail on the event is available here and photographs can be viewed here.

After another year continuing to focus on NLA’s mission of supporting journalism, today we have published our 2018 Annual Report.

We are delighted to have achieved our 21^st consecutive year of revenue growth, which is particularly relevant given the continued challenges the news media industry faced in 2017.  With 84% of NLA revenue generated being returned to publishers, we take great pride in doing our bit to support them through these times of change.

There have been many highlights over the past year, and to briefly name a few; NLA successfully launched eClips Web Specialist, a new content delivery system for users of media monitoring services which provides access to important specialist content from behind publisher paywalls.  Furthermore, our valued client base also surpassed 10,000 licensees for the first time, and we provided high quality, valued content to a greater number of media monitoring companies than ever before.

Alongside NLA’s focus on innovation for our stakeholders, we continued to support important causes such as the Journalism Diversity Fund. The JDF awards bursaries to would-be journalists wanting to train and work in the profession.  These bursaries are awarded to people from diverse backgrounds, be it socially, economically or ethnically, with one of the aims being that our newsrooms around the UK better represent their communities. Our latest donation of £100,000 brought NLA’s total contribution to the fund to over £1.2 million.

Already well in to our new financial year, our mission to support journalism through improving existing operations and exploring new opportunities has never been stronger.

For the full report click here.

NLA licensees will now be able to copy most New Zealand newspapers under the terms of their NLA licences, following an agreement reached between NLA media access and PMCA, New Zealand’s newspaper licensing agency.

This further simplifies licensing of international content, and builds on the growing range of agreements NLA has reached with its peers abroad. NLA users can now copy content from over 20 major countries using their UK NLA agreement. 

The new agreement is reciprocal, and allows PMCA licensees to use UK content. This covers print and web content, and includes rights for media monitoring companies as well as businesses and PR users.

NLA is focused on making copyright compliance easy. We know that international content is increasingly important to UK businesses and we will continue to work to make it easier for UK plc to access and use international news.  

Throughout 2018 NLA media access has continued to increase and deepen its reciprocal partnerships across the world. These agreements are vital in making copyright compliance easier for end users, allowing access to international titles, whilst protecting publisher’s intellectual property.

Working with other Reproduction Rights Organisations (RROs), the Press Database and Licensing Network (PDLN), and International Media Monitoring Organisations, NLA is able to legitimise access to international news and magazine content.

Last year we added two new agreements to our portfolio. This brings the total to 26 international partnerships, across 23 countries, and around 6,800 overseas publications which can be accessed and copied by UK licensees. These reciprocal deals also mean that the UK’s leading news publications can be used by our global partners in their respective countries. 

At the beginning of 2018, NLA partnered with Copyright Agency, the Australian licensing body, allowing licence holders to copy content from leading publications such as Australian Financial Review, The Australian, and Sydney Morning Herald.

Later in the year, we partnered with PCMA, New Zealand’s newspaper licensing agency. As a result, NLA licensees are now able to copy many New Zealand newspapers under the terms of their current NLA licences. The agreement also allows PCMA licensees to use UK content.

We look forward to establishing more global partnerships in 2019, enabling end users the ability to access and use more foreign content whilst continuing to support journalism, across the UK and around the world.

 Businesses rely on news media in various ways; keeping on top of what competitors are doing, as an analysis tool for consumer interests and brand reputation, or to showcase the great work their organisation has done.

If it’s your own products featured in the media, your company may want to shout loud and proud about this third party endorsement. Glowing reviews from newspapers and magazines on your website or social channels are a great way of showing potential customers that you aren’t the only one who loves your product or service.

However, in order to do this, businesses need one of two things: a NLA media access Corporate Website Republishing Licence (CWRL), or the permission of a publisher’s syndication department for each respective article.

A CWRL allows you to post news content to your website and on your company social media profiles. It gives you permission to post headlines, text extracts and PDF files on these sites, without the need to contact multiple publishers to gain their approval.

If you would prefer to seek permission from the individual publishers this must come from their syndication department not a journalist or other member of the editorial team. You should also ensure that you get this permission in writing.

Over 80 per cent of NLA media access revenue is returned directly to publishers who can then go on to continue to create the high quality content your business values. Through the purchase of a CWRL, and all other NLA media access licences, you will continue to support journalism across the UK and beyond.

You can apply for a CWRL by filling out the application form (which you can download here) or by speaking to your NLA media access account manager. For further information on the CWRL and how it works, click here.

So with a CWRL, the next time you see your company mentioned in a newspaper or magazine you don’t have to worry about infringing copyright law or permissions, instead you can focus on showing off the great work you do.

Copyright abuse is a major issue that affects all publishers and creators of original content. It’s easier now, more than ever, for content to be taken, copied and plagiarised without permission of the original copyright owner. This can present a significant issue for newspaper and magazine publishers as they rely on their unique, quality content to distinguish them in a world of fake news.

In 2014, NLA media access (NLA) created the Online Article Tracking System (OATS), which uses our unique database to search for, and detect, thousands of instances of copyright abuse across vast quantities of online article data.

OATS can analyse every article that’s produced by an online newspaper over a two-month period, and then detect where these articles have been copied by other domains. Once identified, the OATS team can then remove infringing content. With vast volumes of content to analyse, this has been a huge success and has revolutionised copyright detection for many NLA publishers.

These copyright abuses range from parts-of, to full articles, as well as photographs and captions that have been copied and posted without permission. The most common types of copyright abuse are:

• Copying or lifting text from an online article and adding a credit to the name of the original publisher. This usually occurs because there is a lack of understanding about copyright law and terms and conditions. In our experience, once the infringing domain is notified, they remove the content.
• Copying or lifting parts of (or all of) the text from an online article and not adding credit or linking to the original publisher. These sites tend to design the layout to look as though it's their own original work by their own reporters.
• Occasionally, websites that replicate a major news site in terms of design and URL. Sometimes the content is kept the same, however on occasion, we’ve seen the content changed or altered slightly, which gives the article a new tone or message. These instances of slightly-altered content contribute to the issue of ‘fake news’

Since its inception in 2014, the OATS system has helped remove over 400,000 articles from over 3,400 different websites that were taking publisher content without permission. In 2018, OATS removed over 89,400 articles from 802 sources with a 90 percent success rate of removing content. 

In most instances, we contact the site hosting the copyrighted content directly, inform them that they are in breach of copyright and ask them to remove the content. This process reduces the chance of the same person or domain repeating the offence. However, if after multiple attempts we're unable to contact the owner of the website, we contact the domains hosting provider and issue a takedown notice to remove the content.

To find out more and see OATS in action, please see our white sheet: (http://www.nlamediaaccess.com/uploads/public/News%20OATS%20document%20%20-%20final%20draft.pdf )

One of the NLA’s newest licences is the Corporate Web Republishing Licence (CWRL); an optional licence, it allows copies and excerpts of articles to be placed on organisations’ websites. This is particularly useful for those companies who want to use the valuable publicity of media coverage to shine a light on their work.

To date over 950 companies hold a CWRL, with over 23,000 articles featured. The licence also allows posting of media content onto social platforms.

Following a recent review NLA has launched a new “Micro” size banding for companies with a turnover of less than £2million. This alongside the existing three bands; small, medium and large, better reflects the uptake of the licence and creates an improved pricing structure for customers.

Henry Pettit, Head of Licensing for NLA, said of the new band: “Listening to feedback from clients, many small or start-up businesses really want to use the press coverage they receive by posting it on their website.  The new banding for “micro” companies is about 13% cheaper than the “small” price point and will benefit well over 300 existing clients and many new ones in the future.”

The new ‘micro’ band was introduced on 1^st April 2019.

The new price is listed online at http://www.nlamediaaccess.com/default.aspx?tabid=141

Lynne Anderson- News Media Association deputy chief executiveAt the start of 2019, the year ahead promised to be one of partnership and collaboration, both for the News Media Association and the local and national news media publishers we represent.  

The past few months have seen the industry forge ahead with several successful joint initiatives.

On the commercial side, the Ozone Project has seen a number of national titles come together to bring a powerful new joint digital sales package into the marketplace.

For the local sector, the Local News Partnership with the BBC has been widely acknowledged as an example of how different sections of the industry can work together to produce genuine benefit for the public.

There is undoubtedly a growing sense of the importance of collaboration, particularly following the NMA’s new Journalism Matters campaign (13 – 19 May) which saw the industry unite to celebrate the power of news media journalism.

 On 24 May, we will embark upon a new partnership when we move from our current headquarters on Vauxhall Bridge Road into NLA media access’ premises on New Bridge Street.

The move will symbolise a coming together between two organisations who share very similar values.

We both believe passionately in the value of journalism and the importance of finding a sustainable business model to enable commercial providers to continue to invest in it.

When the call for evidence for the Cairncross Review was published, we worked together on a series of proposals designed to help the content creators reap the awards of their investment. 

The issue of the tech giants siphoning off digital advertising revenue from the creators of original journalism looms large over the industry.

Government and regulators acknowledge the problem, but action is urgently needed to help news media publishers reap the rightful rewards from their investment in news.

Despite the challenges, the industry can be encouraged that news media journalism is more sought after by the public than ever before.

Forty-eight million people in Great Britain consume news media in print or digital every month.

The value and importance of journalism to our democratic society is a key theme of the Journalism Matters campaign which highlighted the considerable economic, cultural and social benefits created by news media journalism. 

At the NMA, our mission is to champion the industry’s strengths but also to defend it from the many threats it faces. 

Globally, press freedom is under threat with journalists facing serious physical violence or threat of imprisonment just for daring to speak the truth to power.

In the UK, we should be a beacon for freedom of speech across the world yet, sadly, we languish in 33^rd place in Reporters Without Borders’ World Press Freedom Index.   

Our rise from number 40 last year is due in no small part to the NMA-led fightback against the draconian Section 40 of the Crime and Courts Act 2013 which would have punished local and national newspapers simply for telling the truth.

But, despite this success, there is more work to be done and we will continue to fight the threats to press freedom wherever we find them.

We offer a range of services to our members including monitoring a wide variety of public policy and regulatory areas which may impact upon news media publishers.

When appropriate, we make representations on behalf of our members and put across the case for the news media industry. 

Through Newsworks and Local Media Works, the marketing bodies for the national and local news media sectors respectively, we continue to present the industry’s commercial offering to agencies and advertisers.

In addition to lobbying and representational work, we offer a range of media facilities services including press cards for journalists and administering the Royal Rota system for pooling video, pictures and copy from Royal events.

We are delighted to be embarking on this new chapter in our history by moving into new premises with NLA media access.

By collaborating and working more closely together, it will be the start of a new partnership which will benefit our two organisations and the industry we both serve.

NLA media access recently hosted a roundtable at The PPA festival - the magazine industry’s biggest event of the year. The day-long festival concentrates on the challenges and opportunities facing consumer magazine and business media brands today.  

NLA’s roundtable focused on one of the major issues facing the magazine industry today: monetisation. In an increasingly digital world, publishers have been grappling with new ways to profit from their content while ensuring they are protecting this content from copyright infringement.

Publisher representatives from leading brands and industry experts joined the session, to learn more about NLA’s growing suite of ‘publisher services’, with discussions taking place on paywalls, text aggregators, online article tracking and crawler management. Attendees left the session with plenty of new opportunities and ideas to consider.

The discussion on paywalls – something an increasing number of magazines are exploring – focussed on how NLA can ensure media monitoring organisations can still carry out their vital work and maximise licensing royalties through its database product ‘eClips Web Specialist’ – generating new revenues for Incisive Media, Faversham House and William Reed amongst others. Considering the impact on the media monitoring industry is important for any magazine publisher when deciding on how to implement at paywall.

Text aggregators can provide a useful additional revenue stream for magazines, and this provoked the most discussion during the session. Under commercial agreement, one of the ways in which text aggregators can use publisher’s content is to store such content in a searchable archive and pay royalties on access. In order to improve transparency and visibility over how publishers’ content is being used in the text aggregator market, NLA has set up a new initiative following publisher demand: Agent for Publishers. This provides NLA the mandate to effectively manage the text aggregators on a publisher’s behalf and ensure their content distribution is adequately controlled, with transparency given over content usage. Some attendees’ spoke of the unwanted overheads in managing text aggregators directly, and others spoke about historic deals they had since lost track of, so the option of utilising NLA’s expertise in this area was appealing. Through this service, NLA have also been able to distribute magazine content to new aggregators that they had not previously been working with, thus increasing revenues.

As we’ve discussed on the blog before, through its online article tracking tool ‘OATS’, NLA are able to track where magazine content has been lifted from publisher websites and re-purposed across the internet, detect copyright abuse, and have the infringing content removed. This technology helped remove over 89,400 infringing articles in 2018; protecting publishers content online and preventing further loss of revenue. Few publishers are able, or have the bandwidth, to track this in house and there is an increasing number of publishers using NLA for this service.

NLA closed the roundtable by introducing a new and developing service, ‘Crawler Management’. Across the internet, web crawlers (also known as spiders, bots or crawlers) are being used to systematically browse the web and monetise publishers content. NLA are offering to work with magazine publishers to help build ‘whitelists’ and ‘blacklists’ of good/bad bots – and hopefully turn a ‘good’ bot into a revenue opportunity through NLA’s licensing scheme and make sure ‘bad’ bots are blocked from magazine websites. Initial studies have already exposed new revenues for publishers.

Owen Meredith, Managing Director of PPA, said: “We were delighted NLA media access could support PPA Festival and share vital knowledge of how their publisher services can help boost the bottom line.”

NLA media access is continuously striving to support journalism by helping publishers expand their revenues and protect their content. As such we are delighted to have been shortlisted for ‘Industry Partner of the Year’ at the 2019 PPA Awards. See the full shortlist here

Matt Aspinall- Head of Publisher Services

NLA Media Access has announced that Tim Brooks is to step down as Chairman after six years at the helm.

Tim joined the company in 2014 and has overseen the transformation of the business, inducting a new Managing Director, Commercial Director, Chief Digital Officer and General Counsel/Company Secretary, while delivering 50% growth in revenues. 

Tim commented: “I am proud of what NLA has achieved over the last six years. It has been a pleasure to work with the team, and I leave happy knowing that my successor inherits a highly professional and successful management.”

Managing Director, Henry Jones said:

“Tim has been instrumental in guiding the business through times of change and rapid growth. I am personally grateful to Tim for his support in my first three years with NLA and we all wish him well for the future.”

Tim steps down in September 2019, having served two three-year terms. 

Appointment of the new Chair will be announced in the Autumn.

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Tim Brooks Biography

Tim Brooks began life as a journalist, launching Media Week magazine when in his twenties. He has been MD/CEO of major UK media brands, including the Guardian, the British Medical Journal, the NME and Ideal Home. He has been chair of the Newspaper Publishers Association, and a director of the Professional Publishers Association. He serves on several company boards, and is chair of the Advisory Council of the British Library.

NLA media access is dedicated to supporting journalism. Our efforts however are not just in the form of returning licensing revenue back to publishers.

As children around the UK prepare to go back to school, the summer break is also over for NLA’s News Library. Our online database of more than 150 national and regional newspapers is a free service that allows thousands of teachers to search, filter and access pdf news articles (dating back as far as 2006) for use in lessons.

From English lessons on writing the perfect exposé to science classes discussing the latest medical breakthroughs; newspapers play a key role in education.

Understanding the importance of news media and its role in democracy can also be the inspiration for the next generation of journalists.  Something NLA supports though the training of new journalists through the Journalism Diversity Fund.

 NLA has also developed the NLA Schools Licence which allows the photocopying, printing, scanning and use of newspapers and online news extracts for teaching purposes. These licences are purchased centrally by the Department for Education, for state funded schools in England, and at regional authority level for most state funded schools in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

This combination of access to and the necessary rights  to access newspapers allows young minds to be exposed to and inspired by the high quality journalism the UK media is famous for.

If you’ve been browsing our website lately, you may have noticed a new feature in our navigation bar labelled ‘Title Search’. We’re delighted to (formally) introduce you to this new tool.

Step 1/3: Visit NLA's new Title Search webpage

Title Search is a new tool from NLA media access that allows users to check which titles (print and online) are available under NLA licences. The search function provides all the information you need during a licence purchase to make sure you get the copyright permissions you require for your business.

NLA is pleased to debut this new service as part of our ongoing efforts to simplify the licence purchase and renewal process. To use, all you need to do is to enter a title in the search bar and select the relevant publication from the results. Step 2/3: Enter a title in the search bar to produce a shortlist of publications to choose from

You will then be shown further details about the publisher of this title, which licences cover this title, and the type of usage available (such as creating digital copies).

 Step 3/3: Licensing details for the chosen publication can then be viewed

NLA media access covers an extensive range of publications, including:

●      Print newspapers: National, plus more than 1,400 regional and foreign titles

●      Many print magazines, including specialist titles

●      Digital newspaper and magazine websites

By purchasing an NLA licence, not only are you complying with copyright law, but you are also supporting journalism. Since its inception in 1996, NLA has returned over £196million to publishers from licensing.

To try out the Title Search Tool for yourself and check you have the right licence for your most read and copied publications please visit: http://www.nlamediaaccess.com/default.aspx?tabid=234

NLA Appoints Chairman 

NLA Media Access is pleased to announce the appointment of Brian McCarthy as Chairman, with immediate effect. He succeeds Tim Brooks, who retired as Chairman in September.

Managing Director, Henry Jones said:

“I’m delighted that Brian is taking on the Chairmanship of NLA at an exciting time for the business. He brings with him a wealth of experience from the industry, including direct experience of the NLA Board, which will be invaluable in hitting the ground running.”

Brian McCarthy commented:

“I am looking forward to working with Henry and the team as the NLA continues to build on its strategy, driving value for publishers and supporting journalism.”

Brian has served on the NLA Board since 2012, representing regional newspaper publishers.

Brian McCarthy Biography

A qualified Chartered Accountant, Brian spent his early career with Arthur Andersen and Pearson Education, moving to Archant Regional newspaper division in 2004. In 2008 he joined the Archant  Group Board as Finance Director and was later appointed COO, a role he stepped down from this year. 

Brian has been a trustee and governor at Transforming Education in Norfolk, sat on the East of England Council of the CBI and has carried out a number of roles in the newspaper industry including the Regulatory Funding Company, and a number of committees at the News Media Association. He is also a non-Executive director of Norse Group, a services company owned by Norfolk County Council.