crown-copyright-in-the-information-age_january_1998 (1).pdf

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January 1998

CROWN COPYRIGHT IN THE

INFORMATION AGE

Contents

Foreword by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster

Chapters

1. Setting the scene

2. What is Crown copyright?

3. How is official material published

4. Is there a need for Crown copyright?

5. Options

6. The next stage

Annexes

A. Categories of Crown copyright material

Foreword by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster

Access to government-produced information is a key component in the democratic process. This

theme was central to the Freedom of Information White Paper, published last month.

Your Right to Know recognised the significance of Crown copyright in the context of the

Freedom of Information debate and trailed this Green Paper which invites views on a range of

options for the future management of Crown copyright.

The Green Paper takes more open government as its context and reflects the challenges and

opportunities presented by the growth of the electronic information industry. The Government is

committed to maintaining the integrity and status of works produced within government and to

preserving the viability of government publishing without any additional cost for the taxpayer.

At the same time, we want to establish a framework which offers both the public and the

information industry a simple and straightforward means of accessing and disseminating official

information.

This Green Paper will, I hope, stimulate a thorough and informed debate.

CHAPTER 1

Setting the scene

1.1 Your Right to Know, published in December 1997 [1], noted the interrelationship between

Crown copyright and freedom of information (FOI) and expressly anticipated this Green Paper.

"Services for which the Government charges

2.35 The government has for many years off-set the costs of some of its operations

through charging commercial rates for certain tradeable information-based services (for

example land registration data supplied by HM Land Registry). The total income from

charging for these information services (including direct sales income, licensing revenue

and income from data supply) amounted to some £180 [2] million in 1996-97.

2.36 This charging regime is underpinned by Crown Copyright which has been the

subject of a review launched by the previous Government. The results of that review are

being published shortly as a Green Paper which invites comments on proposals to

simplify the application of Crown Copyright (e.g. more standardised and fast-track

licences) and to liberalise it (eg non-enforcement of Crown Copyright for declared

classes of material, such as unpublished public records, Acts of Parliament and Statutory

Instruments).

2.37 We want to protect the integrity and status of Government material and to secure the

revenue which Departments obtain for providing high-quality services for which the

customer is willing to pay a price. At the same time, we want to provide the public and

the information industry with easier and quicker access to the general run of material

produced and held by government. We shall consult on options for striking this balance

in the Green Paper on Crown Copyright.

2.38 We will take account of comments on the Green Paper in drafting the FOI Bill, the

charging provisions of which will be drafted to exclude tradeable government

information."

Crown copyright review

1.2 This review was launched in November 1996 by the then Chancellor of the Duchy of

Lancaster with the following terms of reference:

"To review the management of Crown copyright with a view to facilitating the growth of

new information services both in printed and electronic formats, in line with the

Government's policy of maximising public access to official information, and subject to

the continuing need to protect the taxpayer's interest and the integrity of Crown copyright

materials." [3]

1.3 The review itself followed on from a number of initiatives taken in anticipation of the

Information Age. [4] The challenge for Government is to create a modern, transparent regime for

its own information that corresponds to the needs of the Information Age.

The review process

1.4 An interdepartmental team was set up towards the end of 1996 to carry out the Review. The

team was made up of officials from the Office of Public Service, Department of Trade and

Industry, HM Treasury, Ordnance Survey, the Lord Chancellor's Department, The Office for

National Statistics, and the Health and Safety Executive. The aim of the Review was to establish

a model which would encourage access to Government-produced material. The Review team

recognised that the procedures for dealing with Government originated material must be liberal,

transparent and simple with a coherent approach across all government departments [5] and

agencies.

1.5 The Review process has involved consultation with other parts of Government not directly

represented on the Review team and also with numerous private sector interests and professional

bodies. This Green Paper seeks to address the views and concerns aired during consultation. The

aim is to strike the right balance between protecting the integrity of government information and

the interests of the taxpayer and ensuring that information is freely available. The watchwords of

the Review, therefore, are coherence, transparency, access, simplification and liberalisation.

Privatisation of Her Majesty's Stationery Office

1.6 The responsibility for the administration of Crown copyright has in the past been linked with

that of the Government Publisher. In the run up to the privatisation of the trading functions of

Her Majesty's Stationery Office (HMSO), it was recognised that responsibility for the

administration of Crown copyright should remain within Government. On completion of the sale

of the trading functions to the National Publishing Group, trading as The Stationery Office Ltd.,

on 1 October 1996, the Copyright Unit, which had operated as an independent unit within

HMSO, became part of a residuary Crown body which continues to be known as Her Majesty's

Stationery Office. This residuary body operates as a Division within the Machinery of

Government and Standards Group of the Cabinet Office (Office of Public Service).

The role and position of The Stationery Office Limited

1.7 As part of the privatisation and in order to ensure continuity of official and parliamentary

publishing, the Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery Office let a number of Queen's Printer

contracts to the privatised company covering the following categories of Crown works:

•

Public General Acts and Church of England Measures;

Private Acts and Scottish Order Confirmation Acts;

Statutory Instruments and Statutory Rules of Northern Ireland;

Command Papers and other Departmental Papers published in the House of Commons

Papers series; and

The London, Belfast and Edinburgh Gazettes.

•

1.8 Parliament entered into similar arrangements with The Stationery Office Limited for the

printing and publication of Parliamentary Bills, Hansard and other categories of Parliamentary

work. The Stationery Office Limited was also granted a licence to publish works which were in

print at the point of privatisation. This right only applied to existing editions and existing

formats.

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