Who We Are

NLA media access (NLA) is a publisher-owned rights licensing and publisher services business with a core aim of supporting journalism.

  • We license the copying and accessing of paper and digital copies of newspaper, magazine and news website content. 
  • We work on behalf of the UK’s newspaper and magazine publishers.
  • We license over 150,000 businesses and organisations ranging from large government bodies, PLCs, and limited companies to partnerships and public relations agencies.
  • We operate under the Copyright Designs and Patent Act, 1988, under UK law, and are referenced throughout the UK government’s webpages on copyright, for example https://www.gov.uk/newspaper-licensing-agency-business-licence.
  •  We are one of several licensing bodies and collective management organisations (CMOs).  A CMO is a licensing body which grants rights on behalf of multiple rights holders for a single payment.  CMOs exist in many sectors such as music, film, photography, books, performer’s rights and many others. 

Our history

NLA was set up by the UK national newspapers in 1996 to represent their copyrighted content. We have grown steadily since then and now consists of thousands of printed and online titles. We also include regional newspapers and magazines in our repertoire of represented publishers. Prior to the establishment of NLA, organisations had to negotiate copyright charges directly with publishers, which was time consuming and expensive. 

With the introduction of the eClips database in 2006, we improved our service to the media monitoring industry, by providing a higher quality alternative to scanning –  enabling media monitoring agencies to offer a better service to their clients.

Copyright is enshrined in law in the UK and worldwide.  In the UK it follows the principles of the Copyright and Designs Patents Act 1988.  You can read more about copyright on the UK government web pages created by the Intellectual Property Office here: The UK Intellectual Property Office.     

If you would like to find out more about the NLA and other UK CMOs, please visit the government services and information site here: Licensing bodies and collective management organisations