WHO IS THIS LICENCE FOR?
Built for companies that deliver media monitoring or media intelligence as a core service.
If your platform uses Australian news media content, you need a Copyright Agency licence to use our members’ works legally. This licence provides rights to collect, store and share news content as part of your service offering, including:
- Copy Australian newspapers and scrape online news websites for use in your media monitoring and media intelligence services.
- Provide full text articles (press clippings) or snippets of online news articles to your clients.
- Act as our agent by offering Copyright Agency’s Downstream Licence to your clients.
OUR LICENSEES
LICENCE COMPARISONS
Are you a client of a media monitoring organisation, or do you need additional rights to do more with your paid service? Check out our other licences:
Still have questions? Contact Us.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does the pricing work?
The licence fee payable for the media monitoring licences is based on the following structure:
| Print Monitoring Service | Licence fee per clip received by a customer |
|---|---|
| Online Monitoring Service | Greater of:
|
| Downstream Licence | A per customer licence fee that is tiered depending on the number of users of the Downstream Licence |
| Whole of Government arrangements | Media monitoring organisations can elect to pay on the basis of either a percentage of the tender value, or the existing volume based licence fees. |
For more information:
Does everyone have the same media monitoring licence terms?
Yes. The Media Monitoring Licence is issued on standard terms to all media monitoring organisations, including the standard Downstream Licence terms.
If the terms are updated (including the Downstream Licence), the updated version will be offered to all media monitoring licencees.
Licence fees and valuation are informed by the Australian Copyright Tribunal’s determination on media monitoring licence fees (October 2021).
Does the licence provide rights to use Generative AI?
No. The licence does not grant rights to use the licensed content to train, develop or run Generative AI systems.
It does allow the use of AI for operational purposes such as classifying content or improving search and retrieval within your portal.
We are consulting with publisher members about potential Generative AI use cases. If you would like to discuss a use case, please contact us.
What content is covered under the media monitoring licence?
Our agreement covers content from most independent, regional, local and hyper-local news publishers in Australia. Examples of covered publishers include:
- The West Australian
- Are Media
- Australian Broadcasting Corporation
- Star News Group
- McPherson Media
You can download the full list of covered publishers here.
Through bilateral agreements with NLA Media Access and CLA UK, we also provide media monitoring rights in parts of the APAC region for Australian editions of certain UK publishers and websites (for example, The Daily Mail, The Guardian).
What content is NOT covered under the media monitoring licence?
Advertising, social media, broadcast, audio and podcasts are not covered.
From October 2025, the publishers listed in the table below are excluded from Copyright Agency’s media monitoring licence. Media monitoring organisations must contact these publishers directly to obtain the appropriate copyright licence(s) (and any end-user permissions) to monitor their publications.
- Australian Community Media
- Capital Brief
- InnovationAus
- News Corp Australia
- Nine Publishing
- Private Media
Copyright Agency has no visibility over these direct arrangements.
What are our obligations under the Media Monitoring Licence?
Your key obligations are set out in the licence terms. These include:
- Submit quarterly reports to Copyright Agency with the usage and customer data needed for invoicing and distribution.
- Label press clips and snippets with at least: “Licenced by Copyright Agency. You may only copy or communicate this work with a licence” (or other wording agreed in writing by Copyright Agency).
- Do not make works available to customers before the publisher has published them to its readers.
- Provide customers with the Downstream Licence terms within 7 days of their Downstream Licence starting.
What is the Downstream Licence?
The Downstream Licence provides your clients with a base level of copyright coverage for content they receive from you that is licensed by Copyright Agency. It allows your clients to share that content internally by email or via an intranet, and store it for up to 12 months.
The Downstream Licence is only available from Copyright Agency licensed media monitoring organisations and is not available directly from Copyright Agency.
What content does the Downstream Licence cover?
It covers the same publishers included under Copyright Agency’s Media Monitoring Licence and applies to the news media you supply to customers under that licence (for example, press clips or snippets of online articles provided in reports or made available in your portal).
You can download the full list of covered publishers here.
What content does the Downstream Licence NOT cover?
The Downstream Licence does not cover:
- Advertising, social media, broadcast, audio and podcasts
- Content from publishers that are not included under Copyright Agency’s Media Monitoring Licence
- Articles accessed directly on publishers’ websites (outside the clip or snippet delivered in a report or made available in a portal)
What rights does the Downstream Licence provide our customers?
- Make a digital or printed copy of a press clip, or a snippet of an online article
- Share a press clip or snippet internally with Nominated Users
- Store press clips or snippets for up to 12 months
Do our customers need additional licences and permissions outside of the Downstream Licence?
Yes – if customers want to use content in ways that go beyond the Downstream Licence terms, they will need additional licences or permissions. Common examples include:
- Storing articles for more than 12 months (e.g., on a hard drive, USB, shared drive, desktop folder or in email)
- Sharing articles with people who are not Nominated Users (including PR, media or marketing agencies)
- Posting articles on a website, extranet or social media pages
- Sending newsletters that include articles (or parts of articles) to people outside the organisation
- Emailing articles to anyone outside the organisation
- Using articles for education or training
- Using articles in reports, presentations or other documents
- Any use involving AI systems or tools (including uploading/inputting content, storing it where an AI tool can access it, or using it for fine-tuning or training)
