CLA Higher Education Licence Quick Guide: Commercial Research/Consultancy

Introduction

This coverage is available to HEIs that are members of Universities UK and/or GuildHE, and who make data submissions to HESA.

What can I do under this coverage?

You can make copies for the purpose of commercially-funded research – for example, a contract or collaborative research project or consultancy.

• Copies made for this purpose can be supplied to:
  • members of your HEI’s research team (e.g. staff / postgraduate students);
  • a third-party organisation wholly (or partly) funding the research.

Please note:

• This coverage is directly linked to partnership agreements between an HEI and a business enterprise – copies may not be supplied to companies who are simply engaged in sponsoring studentships, fellowships, honorary posts, secondments, placements, and university clubs and networks.
• Subscribing to either of CLA’s Document Delivery Licences will enable HEIs to supply licensed copies to those commercial end users (for example, a firm of solicitors) who are not formally involved in supporting an HEI’s commercial research/consultancy activity.
• Copies supplied to a commercial third party are subject to strict restrictions prohibiting further use; any such copies must incorporate the form of words of the Copyright Legend set out in Schedule 3 of the Licence terms and conditions.

How is this coverage charged for?

1. We derive a notional FTES for the total number of academic members of staff engaged in commercial research/consultancy at your HEI, using data from the HESA website; the relevant datasets are listed on page 2 of this Quick Guide.
2. We then multiply this derived FTES by our published rate of £51.20.
3. The total fee will appear as a separate line entry on your HEI’s annual invoice. This fee metric is detailed in Clause 6.1.3 of the Licence terms and conditions.

HESA datasets

The relevant HESA datasets are those covering:

• total income (derived from all sources);
• total income contributed by ‘commerce, industry and public corporations;
• total academic staff.

Illustrative example

HEI: University of Wessex

Licence period: 1 August 2024 – 31 July 2025

Total annual income of the University of Wessex	£207,121,000
Total income contributed by commerce/industry:	£3,106,815
Proportion of total income derived from commerce/industry:	1.5%
Total academic staff of the University of Wessex	1,669
1.5% of total academic staff:	25 (notional FTES)
Published rate:	£51.20
25 x £51.20 =	Total Fee: £1,281.79

This guidance is provided for guidance only. Please note that it does not substitute for the terms and conditions of the Licence, and that, in the event of a conflict between the two, the Licence prevails.