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Crown copyright

Copyright material produced by employees of the Crown in the course of their duties is referred to as Crown copyright.  Therefore, most material originated by ministers and civil servants is protected by Crown copyright.

The Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office in her role as Queen’s Printer has been appointed by Her Majesty the Queen to manage all copyrights owned by the Crown on Her Majesty’s behalf.  The Information Policy team or the Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI) licenses on the Controller’s behalf.

More on Crown copyright from the The National Archives

Ordnance Survey mapping is protected by virtue of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Our mapping is protected for 50 years from the end of the year in which the map was published. For example, a map dated 1942 would have gone out of copyright on 31 December 1992.

Copying of our material can be authorised under a licence that suits your intended use of the mapping.

Copying out of copyright mapping

Crown copyright exists in Ordnance Survey mapping for 50 years from the end of the year in which it was published.  You can copy mapping that is older than this without a licence from us.  If you are unsure if the mapping is over 50 years old, please contact us to check.

You are not obliged to include an acknowldegment on any copies of out of copyright mapping.  However, if you wish to use one, we suggest either of the following:

© Crown Copyright {insert year of publication}

...or:

Reproduced from the {insert year of publication} Ordnance Survey map.

 

Copying under the principles of Fair Dealing

You can make copies of Ordnance Survey mapping in accordance with the principles of fair dealing as set out in the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.  This entitles you to make copies of our mapping for the purpose of criticism, review, news reporting and research for a non-commercial purpose.  If you make a copy for any of these purposes you must, where possible, provide an acknowledgement in the following form:

Reproduced by permission of Ordnance Survey on behalf of HMSO.  © Crown Copyright.  All rights reserved.

It is your responsibility to ensure your activities comply with the relevant statutory provisions.  If you need to make further copies that fall outside these provisions, you must first seek permission from us.  We will make a charge when we grant such permission if your copying activity falls under the terms of one of our fee-based licences.

Our product names and trademarks

Our range of products is continuously developing and expanding. In addition to the introduction of new products, some products have recently been renamed and re-launched.

The consistent use of product names and acknowledgement of trademarks are essential elements in Ordnance Survey's product protection and promotion.

Our brand and product names as trademarks may only be used with our permission.

Product names and trademarks leaflet 

Our Intellectual Property policy

It is part of our remit to increase the use of Ordnance Survey data by exploiting Intellectual Property Rights in the data through trading. Our Intellectual Property (IP) includes Crown copyright, database right, and trademarks.

Glossary of copyright terms

If you are unfamiliar with the language of copyright, discover what the terms we use mean in plain English.

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For general enquiries, complaints, feedback or suggestions, email: customerservices@ordnancesurvey.co.uk or call us on 08456 05 05 05