What are the issues governing crown copyright which affect government publications?
Answer The main differences are: (a) Crown copyright is not affected by EU legislation to harmonise copyright and has a different copyright term to other materials; (b) All Crown copyright licences are non-exclusive and Crown copyright materials are available to, and can be published and disseminated by, different publishers; (c) Crown copyright is vested in the Crown and is usually administered by the Controller of HMSO (although the Crown copyright for Ordnance Survey and Hydrographic Office are effectively self-administered). Government bodies have delegated powers from HMSO which determine publication policy; (d) The status of employees of some government funded bodies have been changed by statute so they are no longer Crown servants: this includes most national museums and English Heritage. These institutions are therefore no longer covered by Crown copyright for any work or publications made since that date by their employees.
