All original council information material, including our logo and the content of this website, is subject to council copyright.
To ask for permission to copy and reuse our content, please email webmaster@lbhf.gov.uk
What is copyright?
Copyright is the right to prevent copying of original material. It can be 'infringed' by making copies, publishing and issuing copies of copyright material to the public, or to any other person, without permission.
When we release information to you (including information you have asked for under access-to-information legislation), you may ask if you can re-use the information, perhaps for commercial purposes. Without the necessary permission, you can breach our copyright.
The supply of documents and information to you by us (for example under Freedom of Information and on our website) does not give you a right to re-use them in a way that would infringe that copyright.
Brief extracts of any material may be reproduced without our permission, under the "fair dealing" provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988; for the purposes of research for non-commercial purposes; private study; criticism; review and news reporting - all subject to an acknowledgement of ourselves as the copyright owner. Wider re-use requires our permission. This applies equally to the any of the council's logos.
We may choose to allow re-use under a licence, imposing conditions on the re-use of the information to ensure it is not used in a manner inconsistent with our copyright; and we may also decide to charge a re-use fee.
Re-use regulations
If you plan to re-use our information, certain rules apply under the "Re-use of Public Sector Information Regulations 2005" (the "Regulations").
We are not obliged under the regulations to make public sector information available for re-use, but if we do so, it must be done in accordance with the regulations. In these circumstances, the regulations place the following obligations on us:
- We have 20 working days in which to respond to a request for re-use. This period may be extended where the request is extensive or complex.
- A licence fee can be issued if we do not wish re-use to be free.
- A licence must not restrict competition.
- Exclusive licensing arrangements will not be allowed, except for the provision of a service in the public interest. Such arrangements will be published.
- We should make available to the public our conditions for re-use and any standard charges for re-use.
- Information for re-use should be made available electronically where possible and appropriate.
- We must not discriminate between applicants making requests for re-use for comparable purposes.
- The regulations do not affect our copyright.
Planning, building control and licensing
Read about the copyright specific to our planning, building control and licensing search facility:
If you have any questions relating to copyright and re-use please send them to webmaster@lbhf.gov.uk.