Copyright Fee Paid (CFP) articles

Details for NHS England knowledge and library (KLS) staff on usage of copyright materials, and tailoring their use to expected scenarios.

This page details what Copyright Fee Paid (CFP) articles are, when they are needed, and how you should use them.

CFP articles

CFP articles are articles which a copyright fee has been paid to the publisher. Once obtained, they may be treated as if owned by the NHS, and shared and stored under the terms of the Copylirght Licensing Agency (CLA) Licence for the NHS in England.

The typical cost for an article is between £30 to £40 each. However, an annual allocation of 9,000 articles is included in the cost of the CLA Licence, so we can make them available free to NHS library services.

When to purchase CFP articles

We suggest purchasing CFP articles when an article is likely to be read by more than one person, and you cannot source it from within the NHS. We would also suggest purchsing when an article is required for individual use and you cannot source a Library Privilege copy, even from the British Library.

How to acquire CFP articles

We suggest requesting CLA Licence CFP articles via CLA NHS Licence Plus Document Delivery.

The reprints desk can also supply e-pubs ahead of print. Orders are delivered in unencrypted (DRM-free) format by default.

Additional help

Prepared by the NHS Copyright First Responders, updated July 2022.

Contact the NHS Copyright First Responders via email, [email protected].