Introduction

This part of Land Registry's website describes how you can get our permission to reproduce our material and explains a little about our standard terms and conditions of use.

The Reuse Of Public Sector Information Regulations 2005

The Re-use of Public Sector Information Regulations (RPSI) came into force on 1 July 2005 in response to a EU Directive.
The regulations can be found by visiting the Opsi website.

The regulations allow public sector bodies, such as Land Registry, to make their information available for re-use by anyone making a request in accordance with section 6 of these regulations. However, it is not compulsory for public sector bodies to allow re-use.

The Freedom of Information Act (FOI) and the Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) are concerned with a citizen's right to access information. RPSI provides a framework to grant permission to individuals or to public or private entities to re-use that information.

To find out more about Land Registry's policy on Freedom of Information visit our information rights section.

Land Registry's Publication Scheme has been designed to let you know what information we make available or plan to make available throughout the course of our business. It is also designed to help you find and obtain the information that you require as quickly as possible.

Definitions used throughout the policy

Personal means for the private use of an individual citizen and excludes commercial gain. It excludes copying for the purpose of attaching or annexing to an application for any service (e.g. planning permission, submissions), but we do not object to you using an original official copy for this.

Conveyancing includes use in a HIP and secured loan charges / discharges.

What is copyright?

Crown copyright

All work the Land Registry creates is protected by Crown copyright and or database rights in the UK and is also protected elsewhere in the world through international treaties. We control the copyright to our work under delegated authority from the Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery Office (who is also Director of the Office for Public Sector Information (OPSI)). You may not reproduce, adapt or translate our material in any way (including electronically, by photocopying or recording) without our permission.

Material from other organisations

Some of the material we publish contains copyright material belonging to others for instance Ordnance Survey. Such material is protected by Crown copyright and also by the copyright of those organisations. Our material usually makes it clear when this is the case. To re-use this material you must obtain their permission in addition to ours.

Period of protection

Crown copyright exists in everything that we create for 125 years from the end of the calendar year in which it is created. If the material is commercially published within 75 years of it being created it is protected for 50 years from the end of the year it was commercially published. If our material is no longer protected there are no requirements to obtain our permission before copying the material. However, you may not reproduce our brand, you must still show an acknowledgement to us and you may not pass off the material as being from us. Again, please contact us for advice if you are unsure.

Our commitment to fair information trading

OPSI has accredited Land Registry's licensing policy under the Information Fair Trader Scheme (IFTS). This provides external validation of an organisation's information trading activity. It reassures users that an accredited organisation's processes and policies are compliant and consistent with government policy on information trading and that they meet the needs of existing or potential customers. Our Chief Executive has made a personal commitment to make sure we trade fairly in information and that all our dealings with customers are open and transparent. For more information on the Information Fair Trader Scheme visit OPSI's website.

Types of licensing

Permission to re-use free of charge

In a limited number of circumstances we do allow the re-use of certain data free of charge. Please refer to our published policy on re-use.

Commercial re-use of information

We allow most people, subject to a charge and certain other terms and conditions, a non-exclusive non-transferable licence to re-use our information for internal and commercial business use. A smaller range of our information is available for commercial business use and separate terms and conditions apply. Where Ordnance survey has intellectual property rights in our data we can currently only allow internal business use of those data due to our licensing arrangements with Ordnance Survey.

Exceptions

We may refuse certain people who apply if they:

have previously copied intellectual property owned or managed by the Crown without permission and this was not settled with us (or another part of the UK Government); or
do not have enough credit worthiness (according to our check with a credit reference agency) to pay any licence fees and they are not willing to offer another method of payment (for example, a bank guarantee, payment in advance, and so on).

We may refuse to allow you to reproduce material that:

relates to an identified or identifiable person and they have not given their permission for it to be re-used (such as where the Data Protection Act does not allow it); or
is protected by the rights of another organisation and that organisation has not given its permission.

Pricing

Free of charge

If we allow you to reproduce information free of charge please remember that you may still have to get permission from other people if you are copying a part of our material that they originally provided to us. They might charge you for giving you their permission even if we do not.

Commercial Charges

The charges for commercial use depend on the information you want to re-use or the service you wish us to provide.

How to apply for a licence

To apply for a licence please email us at addvalueservices@landregistry.gsi.gov.uk. You can also call our Add Value Team free on 0800 678 1678 to discuss your requirements.
You should receive your contract within 20 working days of our receiving your email.

What information is available for re-use?

Contacting the Land Registry's copyright team

Please feel free to contact one of the copyright team:
copyright@landregistry.gov.uk

Complaints procedure

Making a complaint regarding the way we have provided a commercial service

We are currently conducting a full review of our complaints procedure for our commercial services. Until the procedure is finalised the following steps may be taken.

The first step is to contact our Commercial Services Team. They will review your complaint and try to rectify the matter.
If you are unsatisfied with the Commercial Services Team's response, you may request that your complaint is escalated to our corporate lawyer, who will also review your complaint.
If you are unsatisfied with the corporate lawyer's view you may then contact the Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI). Land Registry is a member of the Information Fair Trader Scheme (IFTS), which is regulated by OPSI. They may be prepared to review your complaint and give you an independent view.
In some circumstances if you are still unhappy it may be possible to refer the matter to the Advisory Panel on Public Sector Information (APPSI).

You may of course, at any time, take your concerns to court but this is costly whereas a review by OPSI or APPSI is free. For more information about OPSI and the Information Fair Trader Scheme please visit its website.

Standard terms and conditions

Land Registry's standard terms and conditions

Definitions used throughout the policy

Making paper copies of official paper copies of register entries

Land Registry consent

Permission automatically granted for Personal or Conveyancing purposes if conditions of use are adhered to
Consent required for all other uses and a charge may be made

Land Registry Conditions of use

The copies are reproduced with no alteration or deletion
The original document supplied by ourselves is an official copy but copies made of an official paper copies cannot be regarded as such

Printing paper copies from a pdf file containing a copy or an official copy of a title plan

Land Registry consent

Permission automatically granted for Personal or Conveyancing purposes if conditions of use are adhered to
Consent required for all other uses and a charge may be made

Land Registry Conditions of use

The copies are reproduced with no alteration or deletion
Printed copies from a pdf containing official copies in our view can be regarded as official copies provided that the pdf file has not been modified or corrupted and the printed copies are not modified or corrupted. Only a court can determine if such a document can be accepted as such

Forwarding or saving a pdf file containing a copy or an official copy of register entries

Land Registry consent

Permission automatically granted for Personal or Conveyancing purposes purposes if conditions of use are adhered to
Consent required for all other uses and a charge may be made

Land Registry Conditions of use

The copies are reproduced with no alteration or deletion
In our view if the pdf file is forwarded it will, provided it has not been modified or corrupted, constitute an official copy and a print from such an unmodified and uncorrupted pdf file will be an official copy. However, only a court can conclusively determine if such a document will be accepted as such

Scanning official paper copies of register entries to produce a pdf/electronic copy

Land Registry consent

Permission automatically granted for Personal or Conveyancing purposes if conditions of use are adhered to
Consent required for all other uses and a charge may be made

Land Registry Conditions of use

The copies are reproduced with no alteration or deletion
A statement is included in the pdf that it is not a pdf issued by Land Registry and the copies are not to be regarded as official copies

Reproducing specimen official copies of register entries for a book, article etc for educational purposes

Land Registry consent

Consent required and a charge may be made

Land Registry Conditions of use

Only specimen entries supplied by Land Registry Copyright Team may be used
Land Registry specimen entries are clearly marked "SPECIMEN" and must be reproduced with this marking
An acknowledgement of the source must be given
The Crown copyright statement must be reproduced
The specimen official copies are reproduced with no alteration or deletion

Making paper copies of official paper copies of title plans

Land Registry consent

Permission automatically granted for Personal or Conveyancing purposes if conditions of use are adhered to
Consent required for all other uses and a charge may be made

Land Registry Conditions of use

The Crown copyright statement must be reproduced
The copies are reproduced in whole with no alteration or deletion
The copies are not to be regarded as official copies
Ordnance Survey consent is not required for personal or conveyancing use but must be obtained for any other use

Printing paper copies from a pdf file containing a copy or an official copy of title plan

Land Registry consent

Permission automatically granted for Personal or Conveyancing purposes if conditions of use are adhered to
Consent required for all other uses and a charge may be made

Land Registry Conditions of use

The Crown copyright statement must be reproduced
The copies are reproduced in whole with no alteration or deletion
Printed copies from a pdf containing official copies can in our view be regarded as official copies provided that the pdf file has not been modified and corrupted. Only a court can conclusively determine if such a document will be accepted as such
Ordnance Survey's consent is not required for personal or conveyancing use but must be obtained for any other use

Forwarding or saving a pdf file containing a copy or an official copy of a title plan

Land Registry consent

Permission automatically granted for Personal or Conveyancing purposes if conditions of use are adhered to
Consent required for all other uses and a charge may be made

Land Registry Conditions of use

The Crown copyright statement must be reproduced
The copies are reproduced in whole with no alteration or deletion
In our view if the pdf file is forwarded it will, provided it has not been modified or corrupted, constitute an official copy and a print from such an unmodified and uncorrupted pdf file will be an official copy. Only a court can determine if such a document will be accepted as such
Ordnance Survey's consent is not required for Personal or Conveyancing use but must be obtained for any other use

Scanning an official paper copy of a title plan to produce a pdf/electronic copy

Land Registry consent

Permission automatically granted for Personal or Conveyancing purposes if conditions of use are adhered to
Consent required for all other uses and a charge may be made

Land Registry Conditions of use

The Crown copyright statement must be reproduced
The copies are reproduced in whole with no alteration or deletion
A statement is included in the pdf that it is not a pdf issued by Land Registry and the copies are not to be regarded as official copies
Ordnance Survey's consent not required for Personal or Conveyancing use but must be obtained for any other use

Reproducing specimen official copies of a title plan for a book, article etc for educational purposes

Land Registry consent

Consent required and a charge may be made

Land Registry Conditions of use

Only specimen title plans supplied by Land Registry Copyright Team may be used
Land Registry specimen title plans are clearly marked "SPECIMEN" and must be reproduced with this marking
An acknowledgement of the source must be given
The Crown copyright statement must be reproduced
The specimen official copies are reproduced with no alteration or deletion

Use of title plan for search, other conveyancing or planning purposes

Land Registry consent

Permission automatically granted for Personal or Conveyancing purposes if conditions of use are adhered to
Consent required for all other uses and a charge may be made

Land Registry Conditions of use

The Crown copyright statement must be reproduced
The plan must be used in whole with no alteration or deletion

Use of Land Registry forms printed or copied from the LR website

Land Registry consent

Permission automatically granted if conditions of use are adhered to

Land Registry Conditions of use

The form must be reproduced in whole with no alteration or deletion
The Crown copyright statement must be reproduced

Reproducing Land Registry forms electronically for use within software packages or case management systems (whether by organisations (e.g. conveyancers) for their own use or by software firms for sale to conveyancers

Land Registry consent

Consent is required and a charge may be made

Land Registry Conditions of use

Conditions in a licence issued by the Land Registry Copyright Team

Reproducing copies of Land Registry forms, extracts from Land Registry Practice Material or Land Registry quarterly residential property price reports for a book, article etc for educational purposes

Land Registry consent

Consent is required and a charge may be made

Land Registry Conditions of use

An acknowledgement of the source must be given
The Crown copyright statement must be reproduced
The copies are reproduced with no alteration or deletion

Reproducing official copies of documents

Land Registry consent

Land Registry is unlikely to have full copyright or may have no copyright in these documents and so cannot give definitive permission to copy

Information downloaded from our website or taken from our publications

Land Registry consent

Permission automatically granted for Personal or Conveyancing purposes if conditions of use are adhered to
Consent required for all other uses and a charge may be made

Land Registry Conditions of use

An acknowledgment of the source must be given
The Crown copyright statement must be reproduced
The information must be reproduced in whole with no alteration or deletion

Reproducing copies of or extracts from Land Registry Training Material either from paper or held on a CD Rom or on our web site for private or in-house educational purposes

Land Registry consent

Consent always required and is usually given for either an individual session or for a period of no longer than a year depending on circumstances to ensure that out of date material is not used
A charge may be made

Land Registry Conditions of use

An acknowledgment of the source must be given
Crown copyright statement must be reproduced
The documents must be reproduced whole with no amendments

Reproducing copies of or extracts from Land Registry Training Material either from paper or held on a CD Rom or on our web site for commercially run educational courses seminars or similar

Land Registry consent

Consent always required
A charge may be made

Land Registry Conditions of use

An acknowledgment of the source must be given
Crown copyright statement must be reproduced
The documents must be reproduced whole with no amendments

Reproducing copies of or extracts from manuals, which have been produced as part of the Land Registry Qualification course

Land Registry consent

We do not sell or allow copying of these materials because they are an integral part of a Land Registry course and are not designed for use on their own

External or third party use of the Land Registry visual identity, including the Aerial symbol, Geo typeface or other graphic elements

Land Registry consent

Consent always required
A charge may be made

Land Registry Conditions of use

The Aerial symbol and other design elements are the intellectual property of Land Registry and may not be applied, distributed or copied without specific permission
Where permission has been obtained, brand elements must be used without alteration or modification

Land Registry Information and Services not mentioned elsewhere

Land Registry consent

Consent always required
A charge may be made

Land Registry Conditions of use

These may or may not be subject to copyright
A contract with us will always be required
The terms and conditions of re-use will always be given in the contract

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements/statements

Source acknowledgement
Source: Reproduced with kind permission of Land Registry

Copyright statement
The [insert details of the material being re-used] is Crown copyright and is reproduced with the permission of Land Registry under delegated authority from the Controller of HMSO.

Contact us

Contact for queries, permissions or licences
The copyright team copyright@landregistry.gov.uk