Guidance on orphan works
The National Archives and the Intellectual Property Office have produced this guidance to help archive services that are considering digitising their resources or using copyright materials from their collections in other ways. The guidance suggests possible approaches to registering a collection as an Orphan Work and, in particular, helps you conduct a diligent search for rights holders. The guidance also explores the existing copyright exceptions and other factors that may allow an archive service to proceed with a digitisation proposal.
Read our guidance on orphan works (PDF, 0.83MB)
Re-using public sector information
Any UK archive that is a public sector body is subject to the Re-use of Public Sector Information Regulations 2015 when licensing copyright material from its collections. This also applies to any archive which is part of a public sector body (such as a local authority archive service or an archive in a university library). We have published guidance for cultural sector bodies, such as archives and university libraries, on the regulations and we have created a selection of templates which archives can use to meet some of the requirements.
Read our guidance on the re-use of public sector information (PDF, 0.45MB)