All parliamentary papers are covered by copyright and should include an up-to-date copyright statement on the title-verso page (page 2 or copyright page).
Copyright statements for both Crown and non-Crown bodies can be found in Copyright statements in official publications.
These copyright statements can be used in any relevant publication, including parliamentary papers. The statements include the copyright owner, the year publication first took place, reference to third party copyrights and the Open Government Licence, the licensing terms under which content can be re-used.
It is important that the correct copyright statement is used. If there is any doubt as to which statement should be used in a parliamentary paper, please contact official.publishing@nationalarchives.gov.uk. The current core supplier for parliamentary papers, HH Global, also provides current statements for parliamentary papers, as part a paper’s ‘publication furniture’. Other publication furniture includes: printed in the UK statement, recycled fibre content statement, unique ISBN and E [job] number.
The Re-use of Public Sector Information Regulations 2015 place an obligation on government organisations to make their information, including parliamentary papers, available for re-use. Using the appropriate statement allows the re-use of government information through the Open Government Licence.
Crown copyright
Most documents and website content produced by civil servants and Ministers are subject to Crown copyright.
This means most Command Papers and annual reports and accounts produced by central government organisations are covered by Crown copyright.
The current copyright statement for Crown bodies can be found in Copyright statements in official publications.
Copyright assigned to the Crown
If a government organisation has commissioned a third party to author a document, for example an independent review or research, it should ensure that the copyright in the work is assigned to the Crown. There is further information relating to commissioning agreements in Copyright and publishing.
The current copyright statement for copyright assigned to the Crown can be found in Copyright statements in official publications.
Non-Crown copyright
The National Archives has produced a best practice copyright statement for organisations which own their own copyright. This statement can be used in parliamentary papers.
The current statement for non-Crown bodies can be found in Copyright statements in official publications.