What sort of licence do I need?

BGS copyright permits and licences enable external parties to reproduce BGS copyright protected materials. They are generated to meet the needs of our customers.

Non-commercial use: Some of our material is available free of charge when used for non-commercial use, such as for personal, academic, educational, and research use.

Commercial use: The arrangements under which you can use our materials commercially are explained below:

Copyright permit —'one-off' requests

A BGS copyright permit is issued for 'one-off' requests to reproduce BGS published material for a specified purpose - for example inclusion in a particular issue or edition of a printed publication. An assessment of the proposed use is made and a formal copyright permit issued. Where appropriate, a fee is levied according to the type and level of use.

Copyright licence —annual coverage

A BGS copyright licence is an annual (and renewable) licence, issued to a licensee who wishes to make multiple reproductions of extracts from BGS materials in a year. There is thus no need to make an application each time these licensed materials are reproduced.

The following types of licence are available:

Copyright and scanning licence (CSL)

A BGS copyright and scanning licence is an annual (and renewable) licence issued to a licensee who wishes to photocopy and/or scan electronically an agreed number of extracts of published BGS maps or other documents (excluding photographic materials) in a year. They may be reproduced in analogue (paper/hardcopy) or non queryable electronic format (e.g. secured .PDF file) for internal use and for passing on in client reports.

Available in two scale ranges:

  • 1:625 000, 1:250 000, 1:100 000, 1:63 360, 1:50 000 and 1:25 000 scales, or
  • 1:10 560 and 1:10 000 scales

This licence covers a single site/premise. A corporate version of this licence is available, which allows organisations to elect to have multiple sites/premises included on one licence, at an additional cost of £45 + VAT per additional premises.

Derived material copyright licence (DMC)

A BGS derived material copyright licence is an annual (and renewable) licence issued to a licensee who wishes to reproduce map images derived from their licensed BGS digital data, using a Geographical Information System ‘GIS'. Available in two scale ranges:

  • 1:625 000, 1:250 000, 1:100 000, 1:63 360, 1:50, 000 and 1:25 000 scales, or
  • 1:10 560 and 1:10 000 scales

This allows the licensee to reproduce an agreed number of images derived from BGS digital data in a year, in analogue (paper/hardcopy) or non queryable electronic format (e.g. secured .PDF file) for internal use and for passing on in client reports.

Note: A BGS digital data licensee is permitted to reproduce extracts from the data up to A3 for use in external analogue (paper/hard copy) or non-queryable electronic (e.g. secured .pdf) format: to meet a public task duty; fulfil a statutory requirement; and/or as part of academic or other non-commercial research; under the terms of their digital data licence. An additional Derived Material Copyright licence is only required if another type of use (e.g. commercial use) is required.

This licence covers reproduction at a single site/premise. A corporate version of this licence is available, which allows organisations to elect to have multiple sites/premises included on one licence, at an additional cost of £45 + VAT per additional premises.

Restrictions

  1. Any form of reproduction of BGS photographic materials, or reproduction of borehole information provided by the BGS, for which separate permission is required.
  2. Attribution of BGS materials as belonging to the licensee, nor issuing of any materials in or on which there is false attribution.
  3. The retention of scanned extracts for use in the provision of a bureau service for others or for the benefit of or on behalf of others.
  4. Any other form of digital/electronic manipulation, for which specific prior digital licence arrangements are required.
  5. Any promotional use – any such use must be agreed separately.
  6. Please note that a BGS licence does not authorise the reproduction of Ordnance Survey maps. Likewise, an Ordnance Survey licence does not authorise the reproduction of BGS material. Most BGS maps make use of Ordnance Survey topography, reproduction of which may be permitted by the licences issued independently by the Ordnance Survey. Users who do not have an Ordnance Survey licence to reproduce the topography must make their own arrangements with the Ordnance Survey.