Copyright and re-use of materials

Use of logos

The use of any of the Information Commissioner's logos on any document or in association with any information signifies that the document or information has been prepared or approved by the Information Commissioner. The logos are used only on materials generated by the Commissioner's office or where the Commissioner's office has worked in association with an organisation preparing advice on data protection or freedom of information.

Use of any of the Commissioner's logos without the Commissioner's consent infringes the copyright held in respect of the logos. No permission will be granted for the use of the logos nor will reproduction of the logos in any form be allowed unless the Commissioner determines that:

• the material on which the logos is to be used and
• the use of the logos on such material

have been expressly approved by his office. 

Re-use of public sector information and copyright

Unless otherwise stated, the Information Commissioner owns the copyright in all material on this site.

Subject to the following conditions, the Information Commissioner has no objection to organisations downloading his copyright-protected materials from the site (the 'Materials') and reproducing them in their own publications, or on their internal computer networks. For the purposes of this permission, the term 'Materials' includes DVD 'The lights are on' which is available from the Information Commissioner's Office. Organisations using the Commissioner's materials must adhere to the following criteria.

• Organisations must ensure that they are using the latest version of the Materials available.
• Any publication or internal network which incorporates the Information Commissioner's Materials must include an acknowledgement of the source of such materials.
• The Material must be clearly separated from any comment made on it by the organisation or others.
• Readers of the Material must not be given the impression that the Information Commissioner is responsible for, or has in any way approved, the publication or network in which his Materials are reproduced.
• The Materials may not be altered or amended unless such material is clearly marked as altered or amended by the organisation or others.
• No fee may be charged by any organisation reproducing the Commissioner's Materials in respect of reproducing Materials.
• When reproducing the Commissioner's Materials, organisations must have regard to any qualifying statements or descriptions attached to the Materials, (for example, descriptions such as 'consultation document', 'discussion paper', or 'preliminary view' are important as are statements concerning the audience at which the Material is directed). If the Material is reproduced in full, or substantial extracts are reproduced, any qualifying statements attached to the Material must be included.
• Any reproduction of the Information Commissioner's official forms, other than for the purpose of submitting information to the Commissioner, must be clearly marked 'SPECIMEN' unless otherwise expressly agreed by the Commissioner.

There is no charge for the reproduction of Materials made in accordance with these conditions.

The Re-use of Public Sector Information Regulations 2005 provided a framework for deciding issues relating to the re-use of information held by public bodies. Subject to the conditions set out above, the Information Commissioner has no objection to organisations reproducing in their own publications Materials available from this site.

Where an organisation wishes to re-use the Information Commissioner's Materials but the proposed re-use would contravene any of the conditions set out above, the organisation should contact the Information Commissioner's Legal Department to determine whether the proposed re-use would be permitted and what, of any, additional conditions may apply. The application should be in writing, specifying name and address of the applicant, identifying the documents to be re-used and the purpose for re-use.

If an individual or organisation is unhappy with the manner in which an application for the reproduction or the re-use of the Commissioner's Materials has been handled by the ICO a complaint should be made in writing to:

Regulation 17 of the Re-use of Public Sector Information Regulations 2005 requires us to respond to a complaint within a reasonable time and we aim to do this within 20 working days. We will notify you in writing of the determination of the complaint, giving reasons for the decision taken. If you remain dissatisfied once you have exhausted the internal complaints process, you may refer your complaint to the Office of Public Sector Information.