Commercial use of BGS copyright material

The copyright of all materials derived from the BGS's work is vested in the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC).

Subject to where specific permission is granted on this website, no part of any BGS content may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a retrieval system of any nature, for commercial purposes, without the prior written permission of the copyright holder. Permission to reproduce such material can be granted by the BGS IPR Section (ipr@bgs.ac.uk) via specific copyright arrangements relating to individual permissions and / or copyright licences.

Commercial use means any internal use within an organisation (which includes Government and other Local Authorities and their contractors) where such an organisation receives any direct monetary consideration by offering a service and/or product containing BGS material or subsequently derived material, such as providing images in a report for which a fee is paid, the sale of a book or newsletter with a charge, even though that charge may not meet the full costs of the publication or use. Commercial use further includes any indirect monetary advantage or benefit received by any person or organisation by the offering of any service and/or product as described above.

Please send feedback about using BGS IPR material to usingbgsdata@bgs.ac.uk

Important points to note

  • Your use of any materials supplied by the British Geological Survey (BGS) is at your own risk. Neither the BGS nor the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) gives any warranty, condition or representation as to the quality, accuracy or completeness of the information or its suitability for any use or purpose. All implied conditions relating to the quality or suitability of the information, and all liabilities arising from the supply of the information (including any liability arising in negligence) are excluded to the fullest extent permitted by law.
  • 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. An OS licence/permission does not authorise the reproduction of BGS maps. Likewise, a BGS licence/permission does not authorise the reproduction of OS material.
Related topics:
External links: