Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Crown copyright definition

What does Crown copyright mean? In practice, Crown copyright refers to copyright in works created by the UK government and its servants in the course of their duties, with the Crown as first owner. It commonly covers official publications, guidance, forms and datasets produced by central government and the devolved administrations. Defined in the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, a Crown copyright work is one made by His Majesty or by an officer or servant of the Crown in the course of their duties. The designation determines who controls licensing and re‑use. Most Crown material is available under the Open Government Licence, subject to...

Crown copyright in the United Kingdom: definition, ownership, licensing (Open Government Licence), management, duration (including database rights), delegations, assignment and enforcement

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Practice notes

Historical and policy context

arose in response to widespread piracy of government publications in the 19th century—particularly ordnance maps—which highlighted the necessity for copyright safeguards. Statutory began with the Copyright Act 1911, which confirmed in government works. It was recognised that the ordinary taxpayer should be shielded from the narrow commercial interests of a few who might secure private gain through unrestricted reproduction of ‘official matter’. The legend ‘ reserved’ was first applied in 1912. Under the transparency agenda of the 2010–15 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government, there was a clear drive to open up government, in order to:

strengthen public accountability
support public service improvement by generating more comparative data and increasing user choice
stimulate economic growth by helping third parties develop products and services based on public information

Given the government’s promotion of open data and transparency, the use and re-use of material is encouraged, and for this reason the Open Government Licence was introduced. See Practice Note: Open Government Licence. What is ? is defined under section 163 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (CDPA 1988) as ‘works made by officers...

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Judy Nokes

After some years working as a journalist as Chief Reporter and court reporter, I became the Conference and Event Organiser for the International Brazilian Investment Bank Unibanco and in 2002 joined her Majesty’s Stationery Office as Copyright and Information Policy Adviser. HMSO became part of The National Archives in 2006....

Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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