Reproduction of excerpts from books and articles from newspapers, scientific and other journals is a common practice in the operation of businesses. Typical examples include the distribution of clipping excerpts within each business and the reproduction of articles from specialised press (newspapers and periodicals). For example, in many companies, the use and reproduction of articles from legal, tax or financial journals is a daily practice.
Moreover, the reproduction of excerpts from books and articles from newspapers, scientific and other journals is part of the activity of copy shops.
At the same time, many companies maintain libraries that lend books to their employees, or provide facilities to photocopy them.
All of the above texts, regardless of the medium from which they originate, are generally protected works, and their use is permitted only with the explicit authorisation of the authors and publishers, which is granted by OSDEL.
In all of the above cases, OSDEL grants you legal access permitting the reproduction and borrowing of literary works, photographs and works of art within your business through the respective licenses it grants.
For more information:
- For businesses that use press clippings
- For businesses that reproduce excerpts from book or articles from newspapers or periodicals
- For copy shops
- For businesses that maintain lending libraries
read service FAQs
Representing the vast majority of press publishers since 2017, OSDEL has enabled press clipping companies and their clients (the end users of press clippings) to obtain licences authorising the use of clippings from printed and/or electronic press.
The existing conditions can be summarised as follows:
- Publishing companies (of printed and/or electronic press) produce and own the content;
- Press clipping companies digitise and process this content;
- Clients of press clipping companies receive and reproduce the content of printed and electronic press.
For this process to be lawful, rightholders must grant a licence, because digitisation, processing, distribution and reproduction are all acts that require a licence from the rightholders. Internationally, this gap is filled by collective bodies representing the majority of publishers. On the one hand, they grant permission to press clipping companies for use of the articles and, on the other hand, they license the clients of press clipping companies to further use these articles within the context of their businesses. In Greece, these licensing services are provided by OSDEL.
On the basis of Law 2121/93 and the its articles of association, OSDEL is responsible for collectively managing and licensing any act that requires a copyright licence, on behalf of all the entitled writers, translators, visual artists, journalists, contributors to scientific journals, publishers and other persons it represents. When a ‘large user’ (e.g. a public organisation, business, university or library) needs to reproduce literary works to serve its operational needs, OSDEL, which represents a very large number of rightholders, acts as an intermediary – a one-stop shop, granting licences, collecting and distributing royalties to entitled publishers and creators, and monitoring compliance with the terms of the licence.
Law 2121/93, and specifically Articles 2, 3 and 46–51, clearly sets out copyright and the related rights arising from literary works. Thus, the acts of reproduction, distribution and presentation to the public are determined, for which the licence of the copyright or related right holder is required. Acts of reproduction refer to the ways in which a work can be copied, such as reprography, scanning, and storing/copying on a computer. Distribution refers to printed material, while presentation to the public refers to the dissemination of a digital copy to multiple recipients, either by e-mail or by posting it on a closed network. Moreover, Article 18 clearly defines the cases that are exempt from the obligation to obtain a licence, such as reproduction for private use, when an individual photocopies certain pages for their own personal use. However, use for the needs of a business or organisation does not constitute private use. It is therefore clear that the processing, distribution and any form of reproduction of literary works within a business context requires specific licences.
The Greek Collecting Society for Literary Works (OSDEL) is a non-profit civil cooperative society supervised by the Ministry of Culture, whose mission is the collective management and protection of copyright and related rights of authors and publishers of literary works, in accordance with the provisions of Law 2121/1993. OSDEL represents more than 7,500 authors (writers, translators, visual artists, journalists, contributors to scientific journals), more than 1,100 publishers (of books, periodicals and the press), as well as almost all foreign printed works through reciprocity agreements with organisations in 48 countries. It is managed by a 12-member, elected, unpaid Board of Directors, consisting of authors and publishers.
Appropriate licences are granted for each user category, covering all the needs for the use of press clippings. More specifically:
Press clipping companies are licenced to digitise and process the content. For more information and to apply for their licence, interested parties may contact OSDEL at licensing@osdel.gr
Communication and public relations companies obtain the basic licence to store, reproduce and further distribute press clippings within the company, to their executives and employees, as well as to process clippings for the purpose of creating reports for their clients. In addition, they have the option to obtain a licence to post press clippings that concern their own company, rather than those of their clients, on their corporate website. OSDEL’s online application makes it easy for users to obtain the necessary licences.
Other public or private entities, organisations and businesses that use press clipping services obtain a basic licence to receive (right to distribute and to make available) and reproduce and to further distribute the content within the entity/organisation/business to their executives and employees.
In addition, they have the option to obtain a licence to:
- Store press clippings in printed or electronic form – maintain an archive;
- Post press clippings on their corporate website – company publications;
- Send press clippings to external partners (excluding communication companies).
OSDEL’s online application makes it easy for users to obtain the necessary licences.
More specifically, on the first page of the form, enter the tax details of the entity or company, which OSDEL needs in order to issue invoices.
On the second page, enter the contact information to which the licence, invoices and any other important notices from OSDEL will be sent.
On the third page, enter the information necessary to determine the cost. You can also read the terms of use (the contract) of OSDEL’s licence. In the first field, enter the start date of your licence, which, if you receive press clipping services from a company in the sector, must coincide with the start date of your contract with the specific company. In the second field, enter the term of your contract with the press clipping company, or the period for which you wish to obtain a licence from OSDEL if you wish to produce and reproduce printed and/or electronic press clippings internally within your business. In the third field, select the type of business and, respectively, in the fourth field, select the category to which it belongs. After the four fields have been filled in, the cost of the basic license will be displayed, and you can now select additional licences based on the needs of your entity or business.
On the fourth and final page, you can view the total cost of the licences you have selected, including VAT, and you can then indicate the details of the bank that best suits you for making the payment. The system will then display OSDEL’s IBAN at the selected bank, along with the unique code to be entered in the payment reference, which will be used to identify the payment.
Upon completion of the application submission, you will receive an e-mail with the information necessary for payment. No later than two working days after the date of payment, a copy of your licence (in the form of a private contract) and your invoice will be sent to your e-mail address.
You can view the annual cost of the licence in the Organisation’s posted royalty schedules:
Within the context of the day-to-day operation of an entity/organisation or a business, there are numerous daily acts of using literary works that require a license in order to be lawful. For example, and in addition to the reproduction of press clippings, the following are listed:
- Reprography and/or digital reproduction (scanning) of pages from scientific or other books or articles from scientific journals;
- Distribution of photocopied or scanned pages to company staff, either via e-mail or by posting them on a shared computer or server belonging to the entity/organisation or the business;
- Posting of press clippings or pages from books and scientific articles on corporate websites, corporate social media accounts, as well as using these in corporate publications, advertising brochures, etc.
- Creation of an archive/database of press clippings or excerpts from books and scientific articles.
- Uses that have taken place in the past.
