If you want to use copyrighted materials in your work, you need permission to use them. A copying licence allows partial copying and sharing of copyrighted works, such as books, magazines and online materials, within an organisation. You can purchase a licence for your work community from our licence store.
A copying licence allows the use of copyrighted material in a variety of usage situations. Copyrights can protect not only printed materials but also materials published online. Screenshots or photos taken of websites are also regarded as copying.
The Copyright Act defines copyrighted material types and how these materials may be used. Copyrights protect articles, photographs, books and other works available both in print and online.
Materials may be copyrighted even if they are available on open websites. Identifying copyrighted materials can be difficult. With a copying licence, you ensure the legal use of the materials even when you are not sure whether the materials in question are copyrighted.
Copying refers to the making of copies of works, publications or parts thereof. In addition to photocopying, printing or scanning, materials are often copied using digital methods, such as
You can request permission to use copyrighted materials directly from the authors and publishers or take advantage of Kopiosto’s copying licence, which covers a wide range of materials and applications in both working life and education. Companies, joint municipal authorities, congregations and study centres can order a licence from our licence store. You can learn about the licences for other groups and how to obtain them on our website.
The most effortless and affordable way of acquiring a licence is to purchase a continuous subscription that will remain valid until further notice. This ensures that your licence will automatically continue one calendar year at a time. Once the licence period has changed, you can update the licence through our licence store if necessary. The licence will remain in effect unless changes are made to it.
You can read more about updating your licence on the customer groups’ own pages: for a company, joint municipal authority or a congregation. Only a temporary permit is available for a study centre.
A fixed-term licence will remain valid for one calendar year. When the licence ends, you can order a new licence through our licence service by giving the information requested.
To give a few examples, a copy can be made from a printed publication, a file on the internet, an image or text or parts thereof. There are a variety of methods and techniques of copying. Examples of copying for work-related use:
You most likely need one. Photocopying has decreased in most organisations, but copying is still done in many other ways. A copying licence is also required for printing and digital copying, such as copying text or images or taking screenshots of websites. Organisations also need a copying licence to digitise copyrighted materials with a scanner or by taking a photo of a publication’s pages with a phone, for example.
The copying licence covers the copying and distribution of both printed and digital copyrighted materials for internal use within an organisation. Such materials may include various text and image materials in printed publications or on the internet. For more detailed information about the coverage of our licence in various organisations, please check the licence terms.
According to the law, copying and using copyrighted works and publications requires the permission of the authors and publishers. If your organisation uses copyrighted materials, permission must be secured. You do not need a copying licence from Kopiosto if your organisation only uses texts and images for which permissions have been obtained directly from the authors and publishers, or if you only use materials whose usage rights are based on a Creative Commons (CC) licence or other similar open licence.
The copying licence is a solution for using copyrighted material.
In addition to content created by the author, works often utilise copyrighted texts and images created by others. According to the Copyright Act, distributing them or incorporating them into your own materials requires the permission of the authors and publisher.
Acquiring a licence directly from the authors and publisher is not easy or always even possible. Kopiosto comprehensively represents domestic and foreign authors and publishers, which is why our copying licence meets the copyright needs of most organisations well.
Internal use refers to an organisation’s administrative use, such as preparation for work tasks, internal information and training, archiving or research. Internal use within an organisation also includes copying works and sharing them with colleagues in remote and hybrid work.
The restrictions on copying licences are easily available in the licence terms for your organisation type (company, educational institution, joint municipal authority or congregation).
The licence restrictions pertain to the permitted source materials and the quantity that can be copied, as well as the methods and purposes for which the copies are to be used.
The licence always covers the entire staff. The price of the copying licence takes into account the fact that not all people in the organisation copy copyrighted material.
Materials copied under a copying licence are often used extensively in internal company communications, e.g. sharing via email, and in the internal data network. An internal data network can be, for example, a collaboration platform used by the staff (Office365, Teams, Google Workspace or similar). The price of the copying licence takes into account the fact that not all people in the organisation copy copyrighted material.
A part-time employee is counted as half an employee or officer and the number is rounded up to the nearest whole number (e.g. 10.5 employees = 11 employees).
Without a copying licence, you can use the following in your work:
The price of a company’s copying licence is industry-specific and based on statistical studies in different industries on the number of instances of using copyrighted works. According to the studies, companies in certain industries copy and use protected works significantly less than average, while some industries have a need to utilise such material more than average.
We represent over 80,000 Finnish authors and publishers directly by virtue of our mandate. We also represent millions of foreign authors through agreements with our foreign sister organisations.
In addition to the authorisations we receive, the licences are based on an extended collective licence. An extended collective licence refers to a rights management system as defined in the Copyright Act. As a copyright organisation approved by the Ministry of Education and Culture, we can grant licences for the use of works even on behalf of copyright holders that Kopiosto does not represent directly based on authorisations. With the contractual licensing system, even authors and publishers who have not mandated Kopiosto can receive compensation from us.
Kopiosto is a non-profit organisation that promotes the interests of creative work. We pay the copyright remunerations collected through the copying licences to our member organisations, which distribute them to the authors and publishers in the form of various grants and awards, among other things. For example, the Finlandia Prize, Rudolf Koivu Prize and Science Journalist Award are funded with the copyright remunerations we collect. Read more about Kopiosto’s operations.
There are several ways to update the contact person in your information in the licence store.
The easiest way to update the name of your organisation is to send us the changed information (business ID, the new name) by using the contact form or by sending an email, after which we will update the name in the licence store.
In some cases, you may have to wait a little longer for the message to change your password. You should wait a while before requesting a new password. Once the link arrives, it will be valid for 24 hours. However, if the message does not arrive within 30 minutes, check the common reasons listed below. There are several possible reasons why the message may not have reached your inbox at all.
You can only have one valid set of user credentials for the licence store. You can easily update your contact person and user credentials yourself in the licence store settings after logging in. If you do not wish to update the contact person but want to make changes to your order, you can do so by contacting our customer service team by using the contact form or by sending an email.
You can purchase licences for all group companies in the same order. When ordering a copying licence, you should first enter the details of the company to which the invoice will be sent. All licences on the same order will be invoiced for on a single invoice.
Once the first licence is in the shopping cart, you can find the ‘Purchase a new licence for another company’ option under the order details. Select ‘Company’ and enter the business ID and other requested information.
Repeat this step for each company for which you need a copying licence.
Once you have added all the necessary details to your shopping cart (remember to check if you need any additional licences), confirm the order, provide the reference details for the invoice, review the licence terms and submit the order.
You can order copying licences for all your group companies on the same invoice. If you want separate invoices for each company, please choose one of these options:
You can renew your annual licence through the licence store between 1 November and 31 January. By doing so, your licence will continue without interruption.
Log in to the store with your email address and password. You can update your password if necessary.
Check your details via the ‘Settings’ button in the upper right-hand corner of the licence store. Be sure to save your changes by clicking the ‘Save’ button at the bottom of each page.
To renew the licence, click the ‘Licence store’ button in the upper right-hand corner and select the ‘Renew or update licence order’ tab. You can now see your previous order.
Select ‘Renew licence’. You can change the type of your agreement to a continuous licence by selecting ‘Change agreement type’.
Update your order with the current information. You can also add separate reference details to your order.
Accept the order at the bottom of the page by clicking ‘Submit order’.
If you want to renew your licence order between 1 February and 31 October, you can obtain a continuous licence from our licence store. Alternatively, you can contact our customer service team by using the contact form or by sending an email to kopiointiluvat@kopiosto.fi.
If necessary, you can update your licence order through the licence store between 1 November and 31 January. If you do not make any updates to your licence, it will continue as it is with the information you have previously provided.
Log in to the store with your email address and password. You can update your password if necessary.
Check your details via the ‘Settings’ button in the upper right-hand corner of the licence store. Be sure to save your changes by clicking the ‘Save’ button at the bottom of each page.
To update the licence, click the ‘Licence store’ button in the upper right-hand corner and select the ‘Renew or update licence order’ tab. You can now see your previous order. If the information on your continuous licence is up to date, you do not need to do anything.
If you want to update your order details, click on the ‘Update licence content’ button. Here you can add reference details to your order or change the number of people in your order.
Accept the order at the bottom of the page by clicking ‘Submit order’.
A continuous licence order will automatically continue with the existing information if the licence details are not updated between 1 November and 31 January.
COMPANIES:
A continuous licence must be updated between 1 November and 31 January, if:
If the company’s size category does not change or changes by less than 20 people, the licence will automatically continue as it is, covering the entire personnel.
JOINT MUNICIPAL AUTHORITIES:
A continuous licence must be updated between 1 November and 31 January, if:
If the company’s size category does not change or changes by less than 20 employees, the licence will automatically continue as it is, covering the entire personnel.
CONGREGATIONS:
A continuous licence must be updated between 1 November and 31 January, if:
If the size category does not change or changes by less than 50 members, the licence will automatically continue with the previously reported information.
You can check the validity of your order by logging in to the licence store. After logging in, you will be taken directly to the ‘Renew or update licence order’ tab, where you can view the details of your latest order. You can also return to the same tab later after logging in by clicking on the ‘Licence store’ button in the upper right-hand corner. In the licence store, you can also see whether your licence is a fixed-term or a continuous licence.
You can also check the validity of your order in the order confirmation you received by email.
As an existing customer, you can log in to the store and see your previous order, even if you have not used the licence store before. Update your password in the licence store here.
If you have been the contact person for licence orders in the past, you will soon receive an email with a link to update your password. Log in to the store with your email address and the updated password, check your details in the license store settings and renew or update your license in the store.
You can remove the licence order for a company that was previously part of the group when renewing or updating the licence order on the ‘Renew or update licence order’ page. Click the ‘Order renewal’ or ‘Update licence’ button. Find the company that you want to remove from the order and click ‘Remove’ on the right-hand side of the order row. Select the reason for the removal from the menu and confirm the removal by pressing the ‘Remove licence’ button. The licence will be removed from the order rows and the organisation’s information.
You can remove your own data from the licence store in the settings. Log in to the store and select ‘Settings’ from the top menu. You can find the ‘Remove account’ button at the bottom of the ‘Contact person’s details’ tab.
You can also remove your account by contacting our customer service team by using the contact form or by sending an email. When doing so, please let us know who in your organisation will be handling licence-related matters in future, so that we can update our systems accordingly.