Crown copyright
There are some considerations being made in Canada, UK, Australia and New Zealand regarding the "reuse of Crown-copyrighted material, through new licences".
[4][needs update] In 2009, the Victorian Government used Crown copyright to deny public access to data about the Black Saturday bushfires.
[6] Crown copyright covers all works that are "prepared or published by or under the direction or control of Her Majesty or any government department.
The e-petition argues that "access to government information and the ability to distribute and encourage its reuse" is critical to society.
[14] The petition also states that Crown copyright issues have prevented libraries from engaging in the access and preservation of government information.
[14] Following the 2017 petition, the House of Commons formally responded and highlighted the review of the Copyright Act, which began in June 2018 and will resume September 2018.
[15][needs update] Specific terms and conditions are as follows: Libraries may make single photocopies of specific acts or regulations, in whole or in part, in response to requests from the public, subject to the following rules: Copyright © 2001, Province of British Columbia All rights reserved All material owned by the Government of British Columbia is protected by copyright law.
There are important exceptions to this general rule: Reproduction of any materials for commercial purposes requires the advance written permission of the Government of Saskatchewan.
For requests relating to the reproduction of provincial legislation, permission is subject to the conditions outlined in the Manitoba Laws Notification web page.
Reproduction of any materials requires the advance written permission of the Government of Prince Edward Island, or the original creator, where applicable.
Persons and organizations using this information agree to indemnify and save harmless the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador against any claims or actions of any kind or manner resulting from its use.
The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador uses multi-media, i.e. graphics, audio and visual materials, on this Web site with permission of third party copyright holders.
The electronic versions of the statutes and regulations may not be copied for the purpose of resale in this or any other form without the written consent of the Territorial Printer.
It covers works of the King in right of New Zealand, Ministers of the Crown, offices of Parliament and government departments.
[1] For Crown entities and state-owned enterprises, regular copyright provisions apply instead of the 100-year term (i.e. 50 year-terms in many cases).
], the Crown acquired title by a kind of prerogative copyright in certain books or publications such as acts of Parliament, proclamations, and orders-in-council.
There is, in addition, a small class of materials where the Crown claims the right to control reproduction outside normal copyright law under the royal prerogative.
This material includes the King James Bible, the Book of Common Prayer, state papers, acts of parliament and the Royal Arms.
Prior to the 17th century, the executive – acting on behalf of the monarch under royal prerogative – controlled all printing and the granting of licences to printers.
In 1694, The Licensing of the Press Act 1662 was refused its two-yearly renewal by Parliament after public protests against literary censorship.
Crown copyright was extended to any work prepared or published by or under the direction or control of King George V or any government department.
The Copyright Act 1956 further extended Crown copyright protection to include every original literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work made by or under the direction or control of Her Majesty or a government department; sound recordings or cinematograph films made by or under the direction or control of Her Majesty or a government department and works first published in the UK, if first published by or under the direction or control of Her Majesty or a government department.
Transitional provisions that apply for 50 years after the entry into force of the 1988 Act provide that no unpublished material will lose its copyright protection until 1 January 2040.
[42][43] The UK government has historically charged fees for access to some Crown copyright works in order to offset costs.
[46] However this does not apply to all new works - for example the "Health and Safety At Work" poster by the Health and Safety Executive which all employers are required to display, is intentionally not licensed under the OGL[47] - requiring every employer to pay for one[48] every time the written text changes - something which may be perceived as a purely money-making activity by an otherwise publicly-funded department.
Critics might argue that this is driven by greed, since any time the Health and Safety Executive needs money, they can simply change the written text on the poster, therefore requiring employers to buy it again; which would suddenly bring an extra £16.3m in to their coffers (there are estimated to be 1.4 million employers[49] and the smallest available poster costs £11.64[50]).
An alternative would be for the Health and Safety Executive to license the poster under OGL and offer it as a free download for employers to print themselves, like they have for their other publications.
